Writer and Congress leader Nellai Kannan was arrested in Chennai on Wednesday, days after a first information report (FIR) was registered against him for allegedly making remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah in a speech during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) , police officials familair with the matter said.
The action came hours after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including former Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, veteran leader La Ganesan, national secretary H Raja and former state president CP Radhakrishnan, protested at Chennai’s Marina beach. They were detained by the police. Kannan had courted a controversy when he urged Muslims to “finish off” Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah in an anti-CAA meeting arranged by Social Democratic Party of India in Tirunelveli on Sunday.
“Kannan was visiting Perambalur for treatment. Perambalur police secured him there and informed the Tirunelveli police,” said a Tirunelveli police official on condition of anonymity.