Chennai, Jan 8 (IANS): AIADMK General Secretary and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), on Wednesday expelled party functionary P. Sudhakar, who was arrested in connection with a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) case by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
In an official statement, EPS announced that Sudhakar was removed from the party’s primary membership for acting against its interests and tarnishing its reputation.
Sudhakar, who was part of the party’s South Chennai (North West) district unit, has also been stripped of his party post.
EPS urged party functionaries to avoid any association with him.
The arrest stems from the SIT’s investigation into the sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl in Anna Nagar.
Sudhakar was reportedly arrested on January 7 for aiding the main accused, Suresh (30), in evading arrest.
Additionally, a woman police Inspector, Raji, was arrested for allegedly assaulting the victim’s parents and attempting to obstruct the investigation.
Sudhakar’s arrest comes at a time when the AIADMK has been mounting pressure on the DMK government over the Anna University sexual assault case.
EPS has frequently criticised Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s administration, alleging an increase in crimes against women since the DMK returned to power.
The immediate expulsion of Sudhakar is being viewed as a damage-control move by the AIADMK leadership.
The AIADMK had earlier led statewide protests against the DMK government over the December 24 sexual assault of a second-year engineering student on the Anna University campus.
Following the incident, the police quickly arrested a local biryani vendor, Gnanashekaran (37), who was identified as the accused in the case.
The BJP, led by state president K. Annamalai, alleged that Gnanashekaran was a DMK functionary with a criminal history. However, this was categorically denied by the DMK.
Both the AIADMK and BJP accused the DMK government of failing to act on Gnanashekaran’s previous offences, which they claimed enabled him to commit the recent crime.