M A I N   N E W S

Jaya’s disowned foster son held

Chennai, June 13
In a pre-dawn swoop, disowned foster son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, V.N. Sudhakaran, was today arrested and remanded in judicial custody till June 27 on the charges of attempt to murder and possession of narcotics.

The police here raided the premises of Sudhakaran at T Nagar in South Chennai at around 0200 hrs following a complaint lodged by Mr Gopi Sreedhar, a former organising secretary of “V.N. Sudhakaran welfare association”, that Sudhakaran threatened to kill him with a gun.

Though it could not find the gun, the police recovered 16 gm of heroin.

Cases were registered against him under Sections 120 (B), 147, 148, 323, 324, 307 (attempt to murder), 427 and 506(1) of the Indian Penal Code and 20(1)(B)(A) of the Arms Act and Section 25(1)(D) of the Narcotics Act.

He was produced before the XI Metropolitan Magistrate, Mr Jayabalan, who remanded him in judicial custody till June 27.

The magistrate forwarded the case relating to the NDPS Act to the respective designated court for hearing on June 26.

He also forwarded to the jail authority, a request from the counsel of medical treatment for Mr Sudhakaran.

Sudhakaran submitted to the judge that the police had foisted cases against him and that no search was conducted in his house.

“The police detained me and asked if I possessed a gun licence, but later they foisted cases under the NDPS Act,” he said, adding that he was detained after being woken up from his sleep. He was also suffering from ill-health, he added.

Sudhakaran said the police wanted him to sign a copy which simply read “Wealth value — 16 gm (sic). Since, I was apprehensive I consulted my lawyer, who asked me not to sign the paper,” he said and added that he later found the words heroin written beneath.

In his complaint, Mr Gopi Sreedhar had alleged that Sudhakaran had called him over to his residence, where he was beaten up and threatened over some dispute about money transaction.

Mr Sreedhar, who was admitted to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, had filed a complaint with the Pondy Bazar police station.

Following a plea from Sudhakaran’s lawyer, the judge directed that Sudhakaran be lodged in a “first class” prison considering that he was an income tax assessee and a graduate. He was later taken to the central prison for remand. UNI

Karunanidhi named in FIR

Chennai, June 13
Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and three others were named in the first information report filed by the police today for the alleged torture of persons belonging to a minority community, who were arrested in connection with the Coimbatore serial blasts in 1998.

Besides the DMK president, others mentioned in the FIR are former Home Secretary Shanta Sheela Nair, former Director-General of Police F.C. Sharma and Inspector-General of Police (Prisons) KVC Murthy.

On Monday last, Viith Metropolitan Magistrate S.Rajathi had ordered a police inquiry into the allegations of torture of minority prisoners on a petition by Preethi Bhaskaran. The magistrate directed the police to submit its report to the court by August 10. PTI