Chennai: Reacting to the arrest of the BJP functionaries over the removal of a flagpole in Chennai, BJP leader DV Sadananda Gowda said that "injustice" was meted out to the BJP cadre and that illegal and unethical investigation was done by the DMK.
The BJP leader also said that the issue had been positively acknowledged by the state governor and that an inquiry would be carried out into the matter.
Speaking to news agency ANI on the issue, Gowda said, "The Governor has positively responded to us, he said that he will call the chief secretary and other senior police officers and will inquire about the matter, injustice was done to the BJP cadre, illegal and unethical investigation done by the party (DMK)."
Earlier, BJP state vice president Narayanan Thirupathy questioned the necessity of the flag removal and called it "vendetta politics".
"There are thousands of flagpoles in the city. Are all of them with permission? No, but in this case, we have been seeking permission for the last four months. Why it was not given? And what is the necessity for the police to go there en masse and take that (flag pole) out in the early hours? What is the need?" he told ANI.
"The time and energy of the police force has been wasted. Our BJP cadres have been brutally attacked and arrested. More than hundreds of BJP cadres including a lot of women have been detained. What makes you do that? This is vendetta politics. You want to threaten BJP workers, which is not possible," he said further.
Six members of the BJP were arrested for creating a ruckus over raising a flag post outside the compound wall of party state chief K Annamalai's residence last night in Panaiyur, Chennai.
Some residents in Panaiyur had opposed the flag post being raised. Following the protest, police officials reached the spot with a JCB and removed the newly erected flagpost from the area.
In response to this, BJP workers gathered around the area and started opposing the flag post removal which resulted in a tense situation in the area.
Shortly, after the situation got out of control and BJP workers started creating a ruckus, a team of police reached the spot and arrested six people including BJP Sports and Development Cell State President Amar Prasad Reddy.
Further, Amar Prasad Reddy was produced before the Magistrate Court in Tambaram.
Tambaram Judicial Magistrate Varsha ordered Judicial custody for Amar Prasad Reddy for 15 days until November 3.
Giving information about the incident, the Tambaram Commissionarate said, "Without prior permission yesterday before the compound wall of BJP State President Annamalai's residence 45 feet flag pole was erected near to Electric wires engendering people's life and disturbing the public. Chennai Corporation and Police decided to remove this flag pole and informed the decision to BJP."
"Around 8 pm when the police tried to remove the flag pole BJP State Vice President Karu Nagarajan and around 110 people gathered and raised slogans against the Tamil Nadu Government and also stopped the officials from doing duty. T20 Kanathur Police registered a case against them and they were released on bail," it said.
"Likewise, when Chennai Corporation used JCB to remove the flag pole, a few workers threw stones at JCB glass and broke it. Regarding this 5 were booked and sent to judicial custody," said the Commissionarate.
Reacting to the incident, K Annamalai posted on X, "The draconian and fascist DMK Government should understand that it is no match to the resilience and perseverance of a BJP Karyakartha. Our party flag is a symbol of integrity and sacrifice, and every BJP karyakarta will hold it high with a sense of pride. By taking one down in Panaiyur, you've let 10,000 more emerge."
"Starting from November 1, @BJP4TamilNadu will install 100 flag poles every day for 100 days across TN, the 10,000th flag will be hoisted in Panaiyur by Thiru Vivin Bhaskaran, who was hurt by the State Police's aggression while protesting against the removal of the BJP Flag pole. DMK's days are getting numbered by their cowardly actions," he added.
DMK Spokesperson TKS Elangovan reacted to the BJP claim and told ANI, "BJP can never grow in Tamil Nadu. First, do they have permission to erect a new flag pole? Is it their own land? Even we DMK and everyone has to get permission to erect flag poles in public places. No political vendetta and all."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)