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The Hindu
23-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Cancel Madurai Adheenam's anticipatory bail: Chennai cyber crime police urge Madras High Court
The cyber crime wing of Greater Chennai City Police has approached the Madras High Court with a plea to cancel the anticipatory bail granted by Chennai Principal District and Sessions Court to Madurai Adheenam Harihara Gnanasambanda Desigar in a case booked against him for allegedly making false statements intended at promoting communal enmity between Hindus and Muslims. The advance bail cancellation plea was listed before Justice M. Nirmal Kumar on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) but could not be taken up for hearing due to paucity of time. In an affidavit filed in support of the plea, Inspector of Police B. Padmakumari said, the pontiff was not cooperating with the investigation and hence the anticipatory bail granted to him, by the sessions court, must be cancelled. The Inspector stated that the pontiff had travelled from Madurai to Chennai by road on May 2 to attend a private event at Kattankulathur. Then, his car had met with a minor accident at Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi district. However, he made public statements and gave an interview to the media insinuating as if an attempt was made to assassinate him and that the assailants were Muslims. In order to prevent communal tensions due to his statements, the police immediately secured CCTV footage from Ulundurpet and it clearly showed that it was a simple car accident caused due to the pontiff's vehicle speeding on the road. Subsequently, the cyber crime wing booked a First Information Report (FIR) against the Adheenam on the basis of a complaint lodged by advocate R. Rajendiran. The FIR was registered under Sections 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause rioting), 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 353(2) (making false statements in order to create communal enmity) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on June 24. Subsequently, the police summoned the pontiff for inquiry on June 30. However, he sought 20 days time citing his old age and poor health condition. Thereafter, the police summoned him again on July 5 and this time, he sought permission to appear through video call. But his plea was rejected since the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) does not permit such a facility for police inquiry. On July 17, the sessions court granted advance bail to the Adheenam on being convinced with his counsel Ramaswamy Meyyappan's argument that his client had no intention to instigate communal tensions and that he was merely responding to questions posed by mediapersons. 'The questions were leading and amounted to putting words into the mouth of the petitioner,' the sessions court had observed. Further, taking note that the pontiff was 67 years old and that the BNSS provides for examining individuals aged above 60 years at their place of residence, the sessions court had directed the Chennai cyber crime sleuths to conduct the inquiry at the Adheenam's place of residence. Accordingly, the police had visited the Adheenam's premises at South Avani Moola Street in Madurai on June 20. Claiming that many people gathered at the premises on that day and prevented the police from performing their duty, Ms. Padmakumari said, 'the above circumstances show that the respondent/accused is not willing to cooperate with the investigation and has continuously used one or other evasive tactics. The trial court has not fully appreciated these aspects and erroneously granted anticipatory bail.' The Inspector went on to state: 'Due to these supervening circumstances and the conduct of the respondent/accused, this case deserves immediate cancellation of anticipatory bail as the above facts demonstrate clear abuse of liberty granted to the respondent/accused and poses a serious threat to the administration of justice.'
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Frequent protests and rallies held near Rajarathinam Stadium inconvenience residents
Residents who live near Marshall's Road, Egmore on Rukmani Lakshmipathy also known as Salai(Marshall's Road, Egmore) complained That with frequent protests/ fasts being permitted near Rajarathinam Stadium, their freedom of movement had been restricted. Most of the time, protesters squat on the road thereby blocking traffic, including the vehicles of residents. Besides the use of high decibel speakers by protestors disturbs the peace in the neighbourhood, residents have said. On Saturday at 11.30 am, Bernadine Joseph, a retired English professor who stepped out from her apartment to reach a hospital for dialysis found it difficult to navigate the road in her car since a huge number of protesters were squatting on the road blocking her way. She had to navigate the stretch with the help of police personnel who regulated the crowd. Ms. Bernadine said, 'They hold mass protests and rallies here, causing a lot of disturbance for us. Protestors use loudspeakers, shout and sometimes play music and sing. This happens even on Sundays. And now and then there are huge crowds, and they block the road. They occupy the whole road from the end of Rajaratnam stadium till the beginning. If there is a protest going on,I can't enter although my house is just a few meters away. At other times, we are held like prisoners in our own homes because the crowd is so large, we cannot take our vehicles out. This has been been going on for several years.' Residents face hardships to commute on Mashall's road, Montieth Road, Montieth Lane as they often get choked due to protests/ fasts. Sancta Maria, another resident, said, 'If there is a big meeting, the whole road is choked and some people who are part of the protest, even use our compound as a toilet, and garbage bin. They come inside, and throw everything - food packets, water bottles. The whole place is so messy, and they make so much noise. As residents, we are unable to bear this sort of disruptions so frequently. Every time I call 100 and inform them, and they send the police, and they ask them to reduce the volume on the speakers, but they never do. We can not even go out in a car from here. ' Sudha Anand, YouTuber, said children and college students are not able to study whenever a protest is on. 'The use of high-decibel speakers even on Sundays causes a great deal of disturbance. Many offices located in the vicinity also face a great deal of inconvenience and noise pollution. Many of our residents are senior citizens requiring regular medical treatment. ' 'They block the entire road, they put chairs right across. Forget ambulances, even cars and bikes cannot go out if they're using the road,' said Samuel Fredrick. The residents requested the Greater Chennai City Police to change the venue of the meetings/ protests or restrict the permission given for protests. However, a senior police officer said there are now only three permitted places for protests, fasts or procession- near Rajarathinam Stadium, Sivananda Salai and Langs Garden in Triplicane Police district- centre of city. 'Always when we give permission, it is with conditions such as to not use high decibel speakers. If there is a violation reported, we file cases. We will take into account the grievances of residents and will take suitable steps.'
The Hindu
15-07-2025
- The Hindu
Kolathur DSP questioned over death of dairy treasury manager among 33 police officers transferred in Tamil Nadu
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Kolathur R. Pandiarajan, who was recently questioned over the death of Naveen Bollineni (38), a Chennai-based treasury manager at a multinational dairy products corporation that owns Thirumala Milk Products Private Limited, is among 33 police officers who were transferred in Tamil Nadu on Monday (July 14, 2025). Anil Kumar Giri has been posted as Salem City Police Commissioner, replacing Praveen Kumar Abhinapu. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) N. Devarani has been transferred from Vellore range and posted in Kancheepuram range. Joint Commissioner of Police, Intelligence, Greater Chennai City Police G. Dharmarajan has been posted as DIG, Vellore range. DCP of Koyambedu K. Adhiveerapandian has been transferred and is being replaced by DCP Sujith Kumar. DCP of Kolathur Pandiarajan has been transferred to Dindigul district and posted as Superintendent of Police, TSP Battalion, Palani while DCP Traffic, South P. Kumar is to replace him in Chennai. Mr. Pandiarajan was in the news last week when allegations linking him to the alleged suicide of treasury manager Naveen Bollineni (who was accused of swindling ₹40 crore from his comapny) rose on social media, following which Disha Mittal, the Joint Commissioner of Police, West, was asked to inquire into Mr. Pandiarajan's role and submit a report. On July 11 (Friday), he was questioned by Ms. Mittal and on the same day, crime inspector Vijay Prabhakar was sent to Vacancy Reserve category without any posting, after he was found to have mishandled the case. Four districts get new SPs SP-level officer Feroz Khan Abdullah has been posted as DCP, Avadi and the incumbent DCP, Avadi Ayman has been posted as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Ranipet district. Anna Nagar DCP Bhukya Sneha Priya has been transferred and posted as SP of Theni district. SP R. Srinivasaperumal has been transferred from Tiruvallur and Vivekanand Shukla is to succeed him. K. Jose Thangiah has been posted as SP of Karur district.
The Hindu
14-07-2025
- The Hindu
In two days, 24 persons held for drug peddling
In two days, the Greater Chennai City Police has arrested 24 persons for possessing drugs in three different places- Pattinapakkam, Maduravoyal and MGR Nagar- and seized the contraband from them. The Anti-Narcotic Intelligence Unit(ANIU) has been sharing intelligence inputs on drug peddlers and local police have been arresting and seizing the drugs consistently across the city. In pursuance of operations, Pattinapakkam Police mounted surveillance near a hotel and conducted a search at a room in the hotel located in MRC Nagar on Sunday. Police seized 5g of ganja, 48mg of OG ganja and 11 mobile phones from 10 persons. Police arrested Jagadeeshwar, 34, of Choolai, Santhosh, 27, of Kolathur and eight others. Police investigation revealed that Jagadeeshwar had a love marriage recently and the contraband was used at the party he hosted for his friends. On Saturday, Maduravoyal police arrested 10 suspects including Vasanth, 23 of Maduravoyal, Karthik, 27, of Karanodai and eight others near Kamatchi Nagar. 0.81g of LSD stamps, 5.25g of MDMA tablets, 53g of OG ganja, 350g of ganja, ₹50,000 in cash, and a bike were seized from them. MGR Nagar police arrested four more suspects including Sankara Narayanan, 27, of MGR Nagar and three others. The police seized 3g of methamphetamine and 28g of ganja paste from them.
The Hindu
08-07-2025
- The Hindu
Madras High Court grants bail to actors Srikanth and Krishna in drug case
The Madras High Court on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) granted bail to Tamil film actors T. Srikanth, 45, and Krishna alias K. Krishnakumar, 47, in a case registered against them by the Greater Chennai City Police under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. Justice M. Nirmal Kumar granted the bail after taking into consideration that the two actors had been arrested only on the charge of procuring cocaine for personal consumption, and no amount of contraband had been seized by the police from either of them. The judge ordered the release of the actors on the condition that they execute a bond for ₹10,000 along with two sureties to the satisfaction of a special court for NDPS Act cases. They were also directed to appear before the investigating officer (IO) daily for a period of two weeks. Thereafter, they must appear before the IO as and when required and not cause any threat either to the complainant or other witnesses in the case, the judge said. He also directed the petitioners to undertake that they would cooperate with the officials for a test identification parade, if necessary. Further, warning that the bail would be cancelled if the petitioners fail to comply with any of the conditions, the judge said, a fresh First Information Report (FIR) would also be registered against them if they abscond by misusing the liberty granted to them by way of grant of bail. What is the case all about? According to the prosecution, Sub-Inspector Arulmani, attached to the Anti Narcotics Intelligence Unit (AINU), under the Triplicane Assistant Commissioner of Police, had received source-based information on June 17 that a person was in possession of cocaine near the Regional Meteorological Centre bus stop at Nungambakkam in Chennai. Since the location fell within the Nungambakkam police station limits, the Sub-Inspector shared the information with the jurisdictional Inspector (Law and Order) and obtained permission to conduct a raid by the AINU team at the bus stop, where they caught hold of the first suspect, Prado alias G. Pradeep Kumar. The AINU team reportedly informed the suspect of his right to be searched either before a judicial magistrate or top government officials. However, on his insistence that he could be searched by the Sub-Inspector himself, the team attempted to persuade a few passersby to be a witness to the search, but in vain. Hence, the Sub-Inspector conducted the search, with two of the constables in his team as witnesses, and reportedly recovered one gram of cocaine. Immediately, the suspect was arrested. He also reportedly confessed to have obtained the contraband from Nigeria through a Ghana national named M. John. On June 18, the AINU team arrested John at Hosur (Krishnagiri district) bus stand and reportedly recovered 10 grams of cocaine from him. Thereafter, the Sub-Inspector submitted a report before the Nungambakkam police leading to the registration of an FIR against both of them. Further investigation in the case led to the arrest of the two actors on charges of allegedly procuring the contraband for personal consumption. The prosecution claimed that a urine test conducted with respect to Mr. Srikanth on June 23 had shown traces of the contraband.
