The State government had ensured adequate police protection when violence broke out at the AIADMK headquarters on July 11 last year, owing to infighting in the party, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Thursday.
Denying opposition AIADMK's charge of alleged police inaction, the Chief Minister said amidst ruckus during a debate in the Assembly over the violence at AIADMK headquarters, that police were deployed outside the party office. As many as 16 people were arrested in connection with the violent incidents, he said.
Initiating a debate during the demand for grants for the Home department, a portfolio held by the Chief Minister, AIADMK member Pollachi V Jayaraman alleged that police remained as a mute spectator when a group vandalised the party office. Violence broke out outside the AIADMK headquarters, coinciding with the expulsion of former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and his followers from the party at a general council meet chaired by another former Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
Intervening, Stalin sought to know the basis for making the allegation and said the police provided adequate security. Joining his colleague, Palaniswami, who is the Leader of the Opposition, claimed police were informed about the imminent attack but they failed to act.
Immediately, Stalin replied, "it was an internal affair of the AIADMK. What transpired inside the party is not known but outside (the party headquarters) the police provided protection." Palaniswami persisted by saying that during a similar problem faced by the DMK in the past, the AIADMK, which was in power then, rushed police forces to the party office.
"But (then) we did not fight like you AIADMK members did" Stalin, who is the president of the DMK, shot back.
Panneerselvam, got up and remarked, "We were attacked by a group of persons. Police should thoroughly investigate and expose their identity and also those responsible for inciting the mob." Stung by the barb fired by his erstwhile colleague, Palaniswami said, "the act of attacking the office has been recorded through CCTV cameras and people know who had damaged the property inside the office." "Had the police acted swiftly on our complaint, then violence would not have happened," he added.
Responding to a series of charges by Palaniswami, Stalin claimed Tamil Nadu has become an Eden of Peace after the DMK came to power.
Despite being at the helm as Chief Minister Palaniswami failed to initiate action on the Pollachi sex scandal and even the Kodanad estate heist and murder. "It is the DMK which is taking action even in the Kodanad estate, owned by your late leader. The culprits will be brought to book soon," he said.
Also, the Chief Minister sought to know from Palaniswami why he allowed the Thoothukudi anti-Sterlite protests to escalate into full-blown violence leading to the killing of 13 people in police firing, rather than hold talks in the initial stage.
On the alleged custodial torture by the suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police Balveer Singh, the Chief Minister said the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch CID for investigation based on the interim report submitted by the IAS official P Amudha, whom the government appointed to inquire into the allegations levelled against the ASP during his posting in Ambasamudram.
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