DMK MP, 5 others held over clash

J K Ritheesh, a Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament and five others were arrested in connection with a clash between his partymen and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam-All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam workers at Kalavankudi in the district, police said in Rameswaram on Tuesday.

Cases under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including criminal intimidation, prevention of atrocities against Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, and obscene acts were charged against them in connection with the incident on Monday, the police said.

All of them were remanded to judicial custody late Monday night and have been lodged at Madurai Central prison early on Tuesday. The clash broke out between Ritheesh's supporters and locals on Monday, when panchayat officials were making arrangements to lay a road at Kavalankudi.

The villagers were opposing it, stating that the work, a long-pending demand, had been taken up only because of the April 13 assembly elections. Meanwhile, former AIADMK minister V T Natararajan joined the public and questioned the officials about the timing of the work and alleged that it was initiated only because of the elections. "This led to a clash," said a police official.

Ritheesh, who arrived on the scene with his supporters, allegedly attacked Narayanan, a local, and other AIADMK men with stones and sticks, the police said. In the clash, 10 persons including Narayanan were injured. "Following the incident, the villagers blocked the road traffic demanding arrest of the MP and his supporters for 'indulging in violence in their village," the police said.