E-Paper
Jaya flays DMK's decision over officers' suspension
Jayalalitha says the suspensions are meant to derail cases against the Shankaracharya and MK Azhagiri.
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha on Monday termed the DMK government's move to suspend two police officials, who had handled politically sensitive cases, as "politics of vendetta" .
"Honest police officers are being suspended even as the state is lapsing into a state of anarchy following huge seizures of arms and ammunitions," she said in a statement.
Jayalalitha was reacting to the recent suspensions of two Superintendents of Police, K Premkumar and Inspector Marimuthu, who had handled two high-profile cases when Jayalalitha was the chief minister.
Premkumar had arrested the Kanchi seer, Jayendra Saraswati in connection with the September 2004 murder of temple manager Shankararaman. The official was suspended for allegedly threatening a witness in the same case.
Marimuthu was investigating the May 2003 murder of former DMK Minister T Kiruttinan. Among the several arrested in this case was MK Azhagiri, son of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and then senior leader of the party.
"Karunanidhi, who heads a minority government has renounced his known rationalist position, and has pledged his party at the Kanchipuram Math headed by Jayendra Saraswati," Jayalalitha said.
"The minority government of Tamil Nadu is bent upon derailing the cases against the Shankaracharyas and MK Azhagiri due to ulterior motives. The very fact that Ko Si Mani (a Tamil Nadu minister) held discussions with Jayendra Saraswati soon after the minority government came to power shows that Karunanidhi wants the accused in both the cases to go scot-free," she added.
