Chennai:
Two former DMK ministers Veerapandi S Arumugam and I Periyasamy were arrested on Monday on different charges.
Mr Arumugam, the DMK's strongman in Salem district, was arrested near his residence on land grabbing charges and Mr Periyasamy at Koombur in Dindigul district for alleged illegal granite mining, police said.
On May 17, vigilance officials had conducted raids at 16 premises of Mr Arumugam and his relatives in Chennai and Salem in connection with a disproportionate assets case.
Police said Mr Periyasamy and another DMK functionary Muralidharan had illegally mined gravel on 16 acres at Ayyampalayam in Dindigul district without getting permission from the Assistant Director of Mines, causing a revenue loss of Rs 30 lakh to the government.
They said Mr Periyasamy, who had been absconding since morning, appeared before Deputy Superintendent of Police Suriliraja and offered to get arrested. As tension prevailed in this town, he was taken to Koombur on the district border and arrested there, they said.
A magistrate court at Nilakottai later remanded him to 15 days judicial custody.
Mr Arumugam and Mr Periyasamy are the latest to be added to the list of several leaders and former ministers, besides MLAs, who have faced action by police or Directorate of Vigilance and anti-Corruption either on land grab charges or allegations of disproportionate assets, after the AIADMK government came to power in April last year.
A report from Salem said besides Mr Arumugam, police arrested seven others in connection with a case registered against him and 39 others for allegedly torching some huts put up on a land "grabbed" by them earlier.
Cases under 11 sections of IPC for offences including criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder and under Tamil Nadu Public Property Demolition Act had been filed against Mr Arumugam and others, Salem Commissioner of Police KC Mahali said.
As part of the AIADMK Government's crackdown on land grabbing, a case was registered against Mr Arumugam and others for allegedly evicting residents of Angammal Colony in the heart of the city in 2008 and taking over the land. After the action, some of those evicted returned to the place and put up thatched huts and renamed the place as Jayalalithaa Colony.
In the wee hours of Sunday, eight huts in the colony were set on fire by a gang which threatened the residents to vacate the place immediately. Following investigation based on a complaint from the hut owners, police registered the fresh case against Mr Arumugam and others.