Former AIADMK Minister D. Jayakumar has told Madras High Court that he forced a DMK cadre to remove his shirt on the day of urban local bodies polls in the State because the latter was a “hard core criminal” facing 11 criminal cases and hence there was every chance of him carrying a weapon either in the hip or inside his shirt.
Mr. Jayakumar, now in judicial custody after his arrest on February 19, also claimed that the shirt was used to tie the hands of Naresh Kumar, who was suspected to be involved in bogus voting, and thereafter he was taken half-naked to be handed over to the police. The police, however, let off the DMK cadre without any action, he complained.
He pointed out that Section 43 of the Code of Criminal Procedure authorises private individuals too to arrest a person committing cognisable offence and hand him over to the police.
