By IANS,
Madurai (Tamil Nadu) : Three senior Tamil Nadu police officials were transferred on the directions of the state Election Commission following reports of violence during the run-up to the Tirumangalam assembly by-poll, an official said Thursday. The ruling DMK has charged the poll panel of working in collusion with the opposition AIADMK.
DMK principal secretary and Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veerasamy told IANS that the transfer of three senior police officials showed that “the Election Commission led by Gopalsamy Iyengar was acting in open collusion with AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha”.
“Our workers have exposed the AIADMK’s money culture in Tirumangalam constituency. Instead of allowing the police to perform their duty peacefully, (Chief Electoral Officer) Naresh Gupta is acting in open collusion with AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha and working against the democratically elected government,” Veerasamy said.
“Right from the fixing of dates for nomination up to the polling date – everything was done according to the advice of Jayalalitha’s astrologers by Gopalsamy who belongs to the same community (as the AIADMK leader),” Veerasamy added.
An AIADMK leader told IANS this was the surest sign of DMK’s knowledge of an impending defeat in the by elections.
A government statement said, “Indian Police Service (IPS) officials Amaresh Pujari, Prem Anand Sinha and Praveen Kumar have been posted as deputy inspector general (DIG), superintendent (SP) and assistant superintendent of police respectively for Madurai range, its immediate vicinity and Thirupparankunram (the town abutting Tirumangalam assembly constituency).”
“All the three officials are directly recruited IPS officials hailing from outside Tamil Nadu – one of the conditions stipulated by the Election Commission,” a government official told IANS.
The officials being transferred are DIG S.S. Krishnamurthy, superintendent of police M. Manohar and deputy superintendent of police K. Sundaresan.
“The Tamil Nadu government is willing to transfer any official as desired by the Election Commission on the basis of specific requests from the opposition… Our allies should not lift a limb or utter a word even in self-defence in the face of gravest of provocations from the enemies of democracy,” Karunanidhi said Wednesday in a government press statement.
He was reacting to Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta’s remarks Tuesday after touring the constituency following reports of violence allegedly by ruling and opposition parties contesting the polls.
Gupta declined to comment. The polls are slated for Jan 9.