It's a false case: Ponmudi

By Our Staff Reporter

VILLUPURAM, JUNE 27. The former DMK Minister and Villupuram MLA, Mr. K. Ponmudi, has come down heavily on the Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa, for ``having foisted a case against him'' in the `rancid rice issue'.

Mr. Ponmudi, along with 30 others including Mr. S. S. Panneerselvam, district propaganda secretary and Mr. Panchanathan, municipal councillor, was arrested on the charge of having ``trespassed into the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation godown'' here on Tuesday. Twentyeight persons were taken into custody today.

Mr. Ponmudi was arrested under Sections 147, 148, 353, 448 and 506 (II) IPC around midnight, immediately after he addressed a public meeting. The Judicial Magistrate,

Ms. Vijayalakshmi, remanded him to 14 days' judicial custody. He was lodged in the Central Prison in Cuddalore early today.

Addressing presspersons in the taluk police station, Mr. Ponmudi said Ms. Jayalalitha would not ``mend her ways''. Reacting to charges, he said mediapersons, photographs and video proceedings would bear testimony to prove his not ``trespassing or gatecrashing'' into the godown.

Justifying his entry in his capacity as the MLA of the constituency, he said the Quality Control Inspector had even sought permission over telephone from the Regional Manager which too had been photographed. Further, reports of a few TMC and PMK MLAs visiting and inspecting some fair price shops and other governmental premises appeared in a section of the press in the recent past.

Also, samples from the three lots, said to have putrid rice, were taken out only by the Corporation employees and ``nowhere I had used any pin to pierce the gunny bags'', except in one case to pose for a photograph.

Mr. Ponmudi said the State Ministers' allegations that 324 tonnes of rice stocked in the Villupuram godown had turned putrid were found to be false.

He alleged that an after-thought by the regional officials of the Corporation at the instance of its chairman was the cause of his arrest.

Meanwhile, three buses were stoned and glasspanes damaged at Koliyanur, Vazhudareddy and Edayar villages following the arrest of Mr. Ponmudi.

Reports of attempts to launch a `rasta roko' by DMK sympathisers were received from 21 centres in the district.

Tension gripped Villupuram for a while, when DMK volunteers took out a procession from the Gandhi statue towards the old bus stand. The police chased them away and shop-keepers downed their shutters.

In all, 390 persons including two women were arrested under Section 151 IPC, when they came in a procession to launch a rasta roko at Sankarapuram, Tiruvennainallur, Ulundurpet, Kallakurichi, Tirukoilur and Kandamangalam.

The arrested included Mr. Adhi. Shankar, Cuddalore MP, Mr. Udhayasuriyan and Mr. Mookappan, both former MLAs, Mr. R. Janakaraj, Villupuram municipal chairman, Mr. Pughazhendhi, Koliyanur panchayat union chairman and Mr. Masthan, president, Gingee town panchayat. They were let off in the evening.

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Section  : Southern States
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