Supporters of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami as well as its expelled leader O. Panneerselvam took “law into their hands intentionally, indulged in hooliganism and disturbed peace and public tranquillity in and around the party office on Monday,” the police told the Madras High Court on Friday.
The submission was made before Justice N. Sathish Kumar, who reserved his verdict on individual petitions filed by both Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam against sealing of the party headquarters in Chennai by a Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) due to a violent clash between the cadres on Monday, when the party’s general council meet took place at Vanagaram.
The judge deferred his verdict after hearing arguments advanced by senior counsel Vijay Narayan for Mr. Palaniswami, senior counsel A. Ramesh and P.H. Arvindh Pandian for Mr. Panneerselvam and Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) E. Raj Thilak for the RDO as well as the Inspector of the Royapettah police station, under whose the party headquarters was located.
The judge also watched videos of the violent incidents, produced by the police, on a laptop and remarked: “You don’t appear to have even 10% of the footage that was shown in the media.” He also said, the police appeared to have remained mute spectators. However, the APP intervened and said there would have been casualties but for the police intervention.
In his report, the Inspector P. Kannan said eight Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP), 28 Assistant Commissioners of Police, 85 inspectors, 239 sub-inspectors, 809 local policemen and 800 Armed Reserve police personnel were deployed across Chennai city on Monday in view of the opposition party’s general council meet since there was apprehension of violence.
One team led by a DCP was deployed even at Greenways Road where both Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam reside. Such deployment had averted a clash between their supporters over there. However, the men forcibly converged near the party headquarters in Royapettah, where again around 200 policemen had been deployed.
Pointing out that the party office was located in a thickly populated residential area, the Inspector said the schools and shops in the locality had been closed on Monday fearing violence. He also pointed out that at around 8.55 a.m., Mr. Palaniswami’s men chased Mr. Panneerselvam and his supporters at the Indian Bank junction at Gowdiya Mutt Road.
Around 9 a.m., both parties gathered outside the party office and attacked each other with sticks and stones before proceeding into the office. Two buses, eight cars and two police vehicles parked near the party office, apart from 100 police barricades, were damaged due to the riots. Around 55 persons belonging to the warring groups suffered injuries.
However, no person from the general public were injured because of the interference of the police, who chased away the rioters using minimum force, Mr. Thilak said. While the first case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by a sub-inspector of police, two more were registered at the instance of the warring groups, the APP added.
Stating that 14 persons were arrested and remanded in judicial custody, he said the police had also identified others using the CCTV camera footage and obtained details regarding their party post and so on. He feared the groups might indulge in violence once again if the court interfered with the lock and seal proceedings initiated by the RDO.
