By IANS,
Chennai : Controversial PMK leader J. Guru, also known as Kaduvetti Guru, was arrested at his residence in Kaduvetti, about 300 km south of Chennai, Saturday morning.
Eleven other PMK leaders were also arrested, along with Guru, who is the president of the Vanniyar Sangam, the caste group which forms the vote bank of the PMK in northern Tamil Nadu districts.
Guru has been remanded to judicial custody till July 18.
He was arrested on a complaint, reportedly filed by an AIADMK supporter, Gunasekaran, who quit the PMK to join the AIADMK, the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu. He said in his complaint that Guru threatened him for quitting the party and joining the AIADMK.
Guru told reporters at the Perambalur Judicial Court, where he was produced, that the case against him was fake. PMK president G.K. Mani met him in the court.
The arrests caused tension in PMK dominated districts, and in Kaduvetti and Perambalur.
The PMK was an alliance partner of the ruling DMK until mid-June, lending the M. Karunanidhi government outside support.
The PMK and the DMK have been at loggerheads for more than a year. On June 13, DMK senior leader Arcot N Veerasamy alleged that Guru and other PMK members had threatened to kill DMK functionaries. Veerasamy, offered CDs to the media, of guru’s “objectionable” speeches and sought to know in public what the government was going to do about it.
PMK leader S. Ramadoss defended his cadre, saying the CDs were “attempts to portray the PMK as a party of violent elements”.
However, on June 17, after a meeting of DMK senior leaders, the DMK announced that it was expelling the PMK from its alliance. The CDs with inflamatory content from the PMK were handed over to the police, who were asked to take action.
The PMK is also a partner in the ruling United progressive Alliance government at the centre.