Held for posts on CM, TN man booked under Goonda Act

Chennai police on Friday invoked the Goonda Act against social media commentator Kishore K Swamy, who was arrested from his residence on June 14 for allegedly defamatory posts against Chief Minister M K Stalin and the veteran DMK leaders, late CN Annadurai and M Karunanidhi.

Swamy, who is a vocal supporter of BJP-RSS camps and the previous AIADMK government, was sent to judicial custody till June 28 shortly after his arrest, where he was arrested again in two more complaints of harassment. On Friday, the Chennai city police commissionerate invoked the Goonda Act against him on recommendations from the Central Crime Branch.

Police said there were several complaints of harassment against Swamy. He has been arrested twice earlier – in October 2019 on charges of abusive posts on women journalists, and in July 2020, for similar charges of harassing women. He was released on bail in both cases.

Besides individual complaints against Swamy’s posts targeting women, a petition filed by Tamil Nadu Women Journalists Forum before the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in 2020 said Swamy had been targeting women journalists on Twitter.

“He was already booked under Sections 153, 505(1)(b) and 505(1)(c) and was remanded in judicial custody till June 28,” said an officer. After his arrest on June 14, BJP state vice president, K Annamalai, had tweeted in Swamy’s support saying the arrest was a move to suppress freedom of speech and expression.