Former Tamil minister, two others held in land grab case

25 Aug 2011

Former Tamil Nadu transport minister and DMK Tiruchi district secretary K N Nehru was today arrested in a land grab case and remanded in judicial custody for 15 days. Two others, including former party MLA Anbil Periyasamy, were also arrested and remanded along with Nehru.

Police officials said Nehru was taken into custody from Tiruchirapalli, 320 km from Chennai, and moved to Cuddalore prison.

Nehru's arrest came after the arrest of two former DMK ministers - Veerapandi Arumugam and N K K P Raja – in the case. Arumugam was arrested on 30 July, while Raja, who is now out on bail, was arrested on 4 August.

Nehru and the others were arrested on a complaint by K Srinivasan, a doctor, of forcibly acquiring his land of around 13,000 sq ft, on which the DMK district office was then built.

Nehru refuted the allegations and said he would fight it out in court.

Reacting to the arrest, DMK president and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi told reporters that an "Emergency-like situation" existed in the state.