MDMK chief Vaiko was arrested on Thursday for publicly “supporting the armed struggle” by the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in northern Sri Lanka.
The arrest is a fallout of the three-week stir by political parties here demanding that the Centre persuade the Sri Lankan government to “stop the war” against the Tamils.
The Karunanidhi-led DMK Government acted quietly but swiftly on alleged seditious speeches made by Vaiko, and party presidium chairman and former Union minister M.Kannappan, at an MDMK meeting in Chennai.
Vaiko was remanded to judicial custody till November 6. Police also arrested Kannappan from his residence.
Both the MDMK leaders were charged under various sections — Section 124(a) (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Sedition can be punished with a maximum of life imprisonment.