CHENNAI/THANJAVUR: If getting arrested is considered a politician’s stepping stone to a grand stage, former deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin took the podium on Tuesday, but for less honourable reasons than his father and grandfather went to prison for.Udhayanidhi, addressing a Cauvery protest in Thanjavur on Monday, made a sexually loaded remark linking chief minister C Joseph Vijay with an actress whose name the crowd was chanting. On Tuesday morning, police knocked on the DMK leader’s door at Neelankarai. Before his lawyers could move Madras high court for anticipatory bail, Udhayanidhi was taken in a police van for a seven-hour ride to Thanjavur where the complaint was filed by a TVK supporter.He was charged under Sec 4 of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act (TNPHW Act) and Sec 67 of Information Technology Act for “promoting social enmity, harassment, and electronic obscenity”. He was also booked under seven counts of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) including Sec 79 (insult to a woman’s modesty).“This govt is trying to intimidate me with this false case. But I am not a person who can be cowed down,” Udhayanidhi told reporters at Trichy airport after his release. “My remarks were never intended to disrespect women. I was not raised so by my parents. I live with my wife, I have a daughter and younger sister. I consider all women in Tamil Nadu as my family, mother and sister,” he said.Earlier in the day, Udhayanidhi termed the arrest as a joke, before being taken away from his house. “We will fight this case legally.” The police van came to a crawl at many places as DMK cadres blocked the highway raising slogans against TVK govt. Late in the evening, Udhayanidhi was released after being questioned by Thanjavur police. DMK supporters showered petals and raised slogans to give him a hero’s welcome.DMK president M K Stalin said, “They have arrested him to prevent the leader of the opposition from attending the assembly when the budget is tabled.”While criticising Udhayanidhi’s remark, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said an attempt to hold the assembly session without the leader of opposition was highly condemnable.It all started around 7.20am when Thanjavur police landed at Udhayanidhi’s Neelankarai residence. Soon, Stalin’s son-in-law V Sabareesan and senior DMK leaders, along with a legal team, reached the house objecting to the police action. They approached Madras high court seeking urgent hearing of an anticipatory bail around 10.25am. Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan agreed to take up the plea at noon and orally instructed the police not to precipitate the issue until then.But, police arrested Udhayanidhi and was en route Thanjavur by the time the court took up the case for hearing at 2.15pm. Advocate-general Vijay Narayan told the court that the state govt has no intention to remand Udhayanidhi, and that he would be released on station bail after questioning.The police entourage reached Thanjavur around 6.30pm. Since DMK cadres had thronged the Thanjavur East police station where the case was registered, police took Udhayanidhi to the Sengipatti police station. He was questioned there for more than an hour by a police team led by Thanjavur SP E Sundaravadanam and was released around 8.10pm.Udhayanidhi got a loud reception by DMK cadres outside the station before heading for Trichy airport. He took the day’s last flight to Chennai.“We gave him (Udhayanidhi Stalin) a questionnaire and asked him to answer questions regarding the incident in Thanjavur the previous day. After obtaining an assurance that he would appear again for future investigation and legal proceedings, he was allowed to leave,” said a senior police officer.Police said Udhayanidhi was taken to Sengipatti instead of Thanjavur East police station because of law-and-order concerns.Upon reaching Sengipatti police station, Udhayanidhi, who was also accompanied by former ministers P K Sekar Babu and Ma Subramaniam, refused to get out of the police van and demanded that he be taken to Thanjavur East police station where the case was registered against him. After police officials pacified him, he entered the station.
