Ex-IPS officer and BJP candidate from Aravakurichi for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, Annamalai, triggered a row after a video of him seemingly warning DMK leader Senthil Balaji surfaced. Annamalai made the speech in Aravakuruchi during his campaign, however the context he made it is unclear. A video of it is doing the rounds on social media. "Senthil Balaji and all, if I throw you down and kick you, your teeth will fall out," the IPS officer turned politician is heard saying in the video.
"How many frauds I would have seen. You think you are so important and scare me? If I put a hand on you, you will change tune and say I am doing violence. I am warning the DMK cadres here. I'm not ready to indulge in violence. I am contesting politics in a non-violent way. But I have another face. It is my Karnataka face. I don't think I have to show it here. Take the video, submit it to the Election Commission. I am not scared of all this," Annamalai is heard saying in the video.
Update- FIR filed against Annamalai
Popularly referred to as ‘Singham’, Annamalai had earlier served as an IPS officer in Karnataka and was well-known before his plunge into politics. Many have questioned the officer for this statement in which he is seemingly proud of violence inflicted by police officers like him.
Watch the video below.
What exactly does #Annamalai mean when he says he has a Karnataka face? https://t.co/l6xTHSgI1z pic.twitter.com/MSF3kC99eM
— Shabbir Ahmed (@Ahmedshabbir20) April 1, 2021
A native of Karur district in western Tamil Nadu, he was a 2011-batch IPS officer who worked as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Karkala, Udupi district, Karnataka and later became the SP of Udupi district in 2015, during which time he was given the moniker ‘Singham’ of Udupi. He was transferred in 2016 and was posted as the SP of Chikkamagaluru district. After quitting the police force in May 2019, he joined the BJP in August last year.
He is presently the Tamil Nadu BJP Vice-President and is making his electoral debut from the Aravakurichi seat, a DMK bastion, against the party’s R Elango.
Read: You’ll see BJP’s reach this election: Tamil Nadu BJP Vice President Annamalai to TNM
Meanwhile, in another development, searches were conducted by the Income Tax department on the premises of DMK President MK Stalin's daughter Senthamarai and son-in-law Sabareesan, besides searches at the residences of other party candidates like Senthil Balaji and MK Mohan.
Tamil Nadu goes to polls on April 6 and the counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 2.