The lawyers and husband of Sasikala Pushpa were attacked outside the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai.
Highlights
- AIADMK complained Sasikala Pushpa's husband was acting against party
- Ms Pushpa's husband, lawyer were attacked earlier today
- Attack came as Ms Pushpa went to file nomination for general secretary
Expelled AIADMK lawmaker Sasikala Pushpa's husband has been arrested this morning after being questioned by the police on Wednesday. Ms Pushpa's husband and her lawyers were attacked outside the party office in Chennai on Wednesday. Police said Lingeswara Thilagan was being questioned following a complaint by AIADMK leaders, who accused him of acting against the party.
Mr Thilagan and a lawyer were attacked this afternoon when Ms Pushpa, Ms Pushpa -- who has called for an investigation into former chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death -- had gone there to file nomination papers for the post of party general secretary. On December 16, days after Ms Jayalalithaa's death, the party had chosen her close aide Sasikala Natarajan for the post.
A spokesperson of the AIADMK said Ms Pushpa's lawyers had come to the party office in the morning as well. At the time, the party members had told them they were not allowed in the premises. When they came again, a fight broke out between the AIADMK cadres and Ms Pushpa's representatives. The police had to intervene to disperse the crowd. Ms Pushpa's husband Thilagan, seen bleeding from his nose, and her lawyers were driven off in a police jeep.
Ms Pushpa has approached the Supreme Court, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation or a retired judge into the death of Ms Jayalalithaa. Demanding that the government release details of Ms Jayalalithaa's medical condition and treatment, Ms Pushpa said the AIADMK chief's death was "suspicious" as her actual medical condition was not disclosed, no one was allowed to visit her, her funeral photographs showed marks of enbalming and everything from her hospitalisation to her death "was kept under wraps".
Earlier, Ms Pushpa had alleged that after she refused to resign as the party's lawmaker following her expulsion in August, unknown persons threatened that they would distribute morphed photographs of her to all media houses and upload them on social media. As Ms Pushpa took legal recourse, the High Court ordered Facebook India, Google, YouTube and Twitter India not to publish or show any derogatory photographs of the expelled lawmaker.
Ms Pushpa was expelled on August 1 after she informed parliament that she had been slapped by an AIADMK leader in Chennai and was facing death threats. She also alleged that a false complaint was filed against her and her family for allegedly ill-treating and sexually abusing two domestic aides in 2011.