AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar on Monday alleged that the DMK’s youth wing secretary, Udhayanidhi Stalin, had recently travelled to Thoothukudi without obtaining an e-pass.
Mr. Udhayanidhi had gone to Thoothukudi to meet the family of Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks, who had died due to alleged torture at the Sattankulam police station.
However, Mr. Udhayanidhi countered the Minister’s claim, tweeting: “We responded to the police posted at all check-posts on main roads. Only after showing the e-pass, did they allow us to go further [sic].”
He added that he considered this “an attempt by the State government to divert [people’s] attention to help the murderers (those responsible for the death of a father-son duo in police custody) escape”.
‘Danger to people’
Addressing reporters in Chennai, Mr. Jayakumar had said that though there was no problem with Mr. Udhayanidhi going to Thoothukudi, he had not obtained an e-pass.
“He neither got permission from the [Greater Chennai] Corporation nor from the [Thoothukudi] Collector. If he has travelled without obtaining an e-pass, is it a legal or an illegal act,” Mr. Jayakumar asked.
“Is this an individual issue? Won’t it lead to problems in [COVID-19] contact tracing and pose a danger to people? One should respect the law. You cannot take the law into your hands and say that you will go anywhere without getting an e-pass,” Mr. Jayakumar said.
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