A delegation of AIADMK leaders called on Governor R.N. Ravi at the Raj Bhavan here on Friday and submitted a petition alleging deterioration in law and order in Tamil Nadu and police harassment of the party cadre.
“Law and order has broken down in the State,” former Minister C.Ve. Shanmugam alleged while talking to journalists after meeting the Governor. He said the situation resembled a “mini-undeclared emergency”.
Crimes against women had increased, he said, referring to an incident in which a girl was found burnt in western Tamil Nadu recently. Under the pretext of reinvestigation of cases, the DMK government was trying to protect its Ministers.
Mr. Shanmugam alleged that the police were being “used by the government” for its interests. He questioned whether the police, who were on the lookout for former Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji, had the courage to arrest Electricity Minister V. Senthil Balaji since both faced complaints of the same nature.
Asked whether the AIADMK enquired about the status of the legislation against NEET pending with the Governor, Mr. Shanmugam said the meeting dealt only with law and order. He blamed DMK MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin for making “misleading statements” against NEET during the Assembly election campaign. Since the Supreme Court had upheld NEET, either the court or Parliament alone could change the status, he said.
Elaborating on the allegation of harassment of government servants by the ruling DMK, the former Minister said an audio clip in which a sub-inspector in Vellore had alleged harassment by DMK workers went viral, but he was transferred.
‘Workers went missing’
He said AIADMK workers went missing from Jolarpettai and Ramanathapuram and the Virudhunagar Superintendent of Police was responsible for it.
“But we are not afraid of any case. We have faced [former Chief Minister and DMK leader] Karunanidhi and we will face the cases legally as our Amma [late AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa] did.”
Mr. Shanmugam alleged that many Ministers in the DMK government had cases registered against them. Banned psychotropic substances were being sold in the State. Within 200 days of the new government, over 500 murders had occurred, he said.