TTV Dinakaran and his aide Sukesh Chandrasekhar have been arrested in cash-for-symbol case.
Highlights
- Nephew of VK Sasikala, TTV Dinakaran and his aide arrested in Delhi
- He was questioned for four consecutive days by Delhi Police
- He is accused of bribing officials to allot AIADMK symbol to his faction
Nephew of the jailed AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala, TTV Dinakaran was arrested by the Delhi Police around Tuesday midnight on charges of fixing a deal to bribe Election Commission officials to get the party's 'two leaves' election symbol allotted for the Amma faction that he led as his aunt's proxy. The Crime Branch believes that the 27-year-old man, Sukesh Chandrasekar, arrested from a south Delhi hotel with bundles of 2,000 rupee currency notes totalling Rs 1.3 crore was trying to touch base with poll panel officials to influence the outcome of the proceedings before the Election Commission for the AIADMK's symbol. Dinakaran's arrest on Tuesday could further weaken the hold of the AIADMK's Deputy General Secretary over the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, and hurl the party's two factions - one represented by former chief minister O Panneerselvam and the other, by Chief Minister E Palaniswami - closer.
Here are the 10 points on this developing story:
Dinakaran was questioned for the fourth consecutive day at the Crime Branch's Chanakyapuri office on Tuesday evening. But like the last three days, he didn't go back home. "He was arrested after being questioned for close to six hours," Praveer Ranjan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) announced.
Mallikarjuna, the AIADMK leader's long-time friend who police allege was also involved, has also been arrested. It is not clear what role he played in the cash for symbol scandal. The two will be produced before a court on Wednesday afternoon where the Delhi Police is expected to seek his remand for his custodial interrogation.
Appointed AIADMK's deputy general secretary by his aunt before she headed to Bengaluru to serve four years in jail, police sources said Dinakaran had turned out to be a hard nut to crack necessitating the detailed, and repeated interrogation over 37 hours before the decision to arrest him was taken.
The arrests come hours after a Delhi Court - before who Sukesh Chandrasekar was produced earlier in the day - wondered why the police had not arrested Dinakaran who they had been saying was the mastermind of the scam. Police said Mr Chandrasekar had led them to Dinakaran, accusing the AIADMK leader of promising to pay crores of rupees if he could swing the Election Commission case in his favour.
Dinakaran loyalists in Chennai have been dismissive of the police charges, accusing the BJP-led central government of trying to arm-twist the Amma faction of AIADMK that he heads for his party to give a foot-hold in the state.
Senior Tamil Nadu ministers including E Palaniswami - who was hurriedly appointed as Chief Minister by Sasikala when her conviction in a corruption case by the Supreme Court prevented her from taking charge - has agreed to O Panneerselvam faction's demand to keep Sasikala and Dinakaran away from the party and the government.
Mr Panneerselvam, or OPS, however, insists that the two should be formally thrown out. With Sasikala already in jail, and Dinakaran taking a forced break from politics due to his arrest, the demand for their expulsion from the party will get louder.
Dinakaran's recent trouble began after Income Tax officials recovered documents from the state health minister's house shows alleged payment of 89 crore rupees as bribe to R K Nagar voters, distributed through Ministers and the Chief Minister to ensure his victory. While the poll panel chose to cancel the bye-poll, the party seems to have decided enough is enough.
"Things are turning conducive for talks," OPS declared, hours before the police in Delhi arrested Dinakaran on Tuesday. The two factions have set up committees to negotiate the merger.
The party had split months after the death of J Jayalalithaa. OPS, who was a regular stand-in for Ms Jayalalithaa while she was alive, was made Chief Minister while Ms Jayalalithaa's live-in aide, VK Sasikala, was appointed the AIADMK's chief. But Ms Sasikala decided to become Chief Minister too, prompting a revolt by Mr Panneerselvam.
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