AIADMK's TTV Dinakaran arrested over charges of bribing EC
Nephew of jailed AIADMK General Secretary VK Sasikala and party leader, TTV Dinakaran, was arrested by the Delhi Police on Tuesday midnight on charges of bribing an Election Commission official to get party's 'two leaves' symbol. He was arrested after being questioned for close to six hours on Tuesday. Furthermore, his friend Mallikarjuna has also been taken into custody.
AIADMK Amma leader TTV Dinakaran, who is accused of bribing an Election Commission official to get the AIADMK's frozen ' two leaves' symbol for his faction of the party, has been arrested by Delhi Police's Crime Branch. His longtime friend Mallikarjuna has also been taken into custody.On Tuesday, Dinakaran was questioned for a fourth consecutive day by Delhi Police. He reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri at 5 PM. He was arrested after being questioned for close to six hours, Praveer Ranjan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), said. Dinakaran has been interrogated for a total of 37 hours, and will be produced at Tiz Hazari Court this afternoon after a medical test at Safdarjung Hospital.  DINAKARAN ADMITS HE MET SUKESH Dinakaran has admitted to meeting Sukesh Chandrasekhar, under the impression that he was a high court judge, police said on Monday. At the same time, he denied having paid any money to Sukesh  in an attempt to obtain the AIADMK's symbol for his camp, police said. Until Monday, Dinakaran had maintained that he didn't know Sukesh, and that he hadn't met him.  Police have also questioned Dinakaran's personal assistant Janardhana in connection with the case.  Sources said he has agreed to be a witness. WHY WAS MALLIKARJUNA ARRESTED? Mallikarjuna was arrested for allegedly facilitating the deal between Dinakaran and Sukesh Chandrasekar, Praveer Ranjan said.Mallikarjuna had been accompanying Dinakaran everywhere ever since Sukesh was arrested on April 16 for allegedly striking a deal of Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK (Amma) faction keep the poll symbol.Dinakaran, Mallikarjuna and Chandrasekar will be questioned together to establish the money trail, details of the deal and whether more people were involved in it.  CHANDRASEKAR'S CUSTODY EXTENDED On Tuesday, the police produced Chandrasekar before a special court, which extended his custody till April 28. The court was told that Chandrasekar had been paid through hawala channels. "A person named Shah Faisal told that he had collected a parcel from Chennai and gave it to Chandrasekar, who had posed as a member of Parliament," the police said. It is suspected that the parcel contained Rs 10 crore. The police said three Chandni Chowk-based hawala operators will also be questioned in connection with the case. AIADMK REVOLT Dinakaran's arrest comes at a time when there are moves to merge the two factions of the AIADMK - the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, and the AIADMK Amma, led by incumbent CM Edappadi Palaniswami (and to which Dinakaran, too, belongs).Dinakaran was in February appointed the AIADMK's deputy general secretary by jailed party chief V S Sasikala - who happens to be his aunt. However, a powerful section of the AIADMK Amma recently revolted against the Sasikala-Dinakaran leadership.That happened after Panneerselvam demanded the ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran as a condition for the merger.Dinakaran later announced he would stay away from party affairs, and that he could be removed only by Sasikala.Sasikala is currently serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a disproportionate assets case.(Inputs from PTI) ALSO READ | TTV Dinakaran confesses to meeting middleman in EC bribery case, assumed he was high court judge