Politic-Economic-Society-Tech

Opposition Leader Arrested in India

MADRAS, India (AP) — Police cracked down on top opposition leaders in a southern Indian state on Saturday, arresting one of India's most senior politicians, a federal minister and hundreds of local leaders in a bribery scandal. Another federal minister was injured. 

Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the 77-year-old former top administrator of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, was arrested at his residence in Madras early Saturday morning. He told reporters that police roused him from bed. Video footage, shot by a family member and broadcast throughout India, showed police slapping and pushing him. 

Within hours, federal Environment Minister T.R. Balu, Karunanidhi's son Alagiri and four state government officials were also arrested. 

Karunanidhi's other son, M.K. Stalin, whom police named as the main suspect in the bribery scandal, surrendered before a judge. 

The arrests were made hours after the municipal commissioner of Madras told police that that Karunanidhi, Stalin and others had accepted bribes for contracts worth $2.6 million to build 10 highway overpasses in the capital during their tenure in government. 

Karunanidhi's nephew, Murasoli Maran, India's commerce minister, was injured in the leg after he scuffled with police at Karunanidhi's residence during the arrest. Footage broadcast on Sun TV, a Tamil language network owned by Karunanidhi's family, showed officers lifting Maran over their heads and carrying him away to a police station. 

Maran, who underwent cardiac surgery a few months ago, was rushed from the police station to the intensive care unit of a private hospital, according to officials with Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazagham party. 

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee deplored Karunanidhi's rough treatment and demanded details, the private Star News channel reported. 

Dozens of journalists trying to cover the events were also taken into custody. In pre-dawn swoops, police also arrested hundreds of other leaders and members of Karunanidhi's party across Tamil Nadu and in neighboring Pondicherry state. 

Karunanidhi, whose party is a member of India's ruling coalition, was Tamil Nadu's chief minister — the state's top administrator — until May, when his party was trounced in provincial elections. 

Tension spread across Tamil Nadu following the arrests. Police wielding batons charged supporters of Karunanidhi's DMK party outside the prison where he was held, and police were girding for violence in other parts of the province. 


source: The Associated Press, 30 Jun 2001