The Mayiladuthurai police on Wednesday, February 28, arrested Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries and two others for claiming that they have “obscene” video and audio clips of Dharmapuram Adheenam’s 27th Gurumaka Sannithanam and demanding money from the mutt. It is to be noted that Dharmapuram Adheenam was one of the 21 Adheenams from Tamil Nadu who attended the inauguration of the new parliament building in New Delhi.
The arrest comes after the brother and assistant Viruthagiri of Dharmapuram Adheenam head Srilasree Masilamani Desika Gnanasampanda Paramasarya Swami filed a complaint against the Mayiladuthurai BJP district-level functionary and his associates on February 25.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Mayiladuthurai BJP district secretary Vignesh, Thanjavur North Youth Wing Secretary Vinoth, and two others, tried to blackmail the Adheenam head to extract money.
Viruthagiri’s complaint alleged that Vignesh and Vinoth acted upon the instructions given by Mayiladathurai BJP president Agoram, founder of Kalaimagal school Kodiyarasu, and advocate Jayachandran. “They threatened the mutt head that if he failed to give a lump sum of money, they would release the clips and bring disrepute to the Adheenam,” the complaint read.
In the complaint, Viruthagiri also said that the BJP functionaries tried to strangle him. Based on his complaint, Mayiladuthurai police booked seven persons on February 25, including a person who worked for Dharmapuram Adheenam. The case was registered under sections 323 (Voluntarily causing hurt), 307 (attempt to murder), 389 (putting a person in fear of accusation of an offence), 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation) and 120 B (whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The four persons arrested have been remanded for 15 days after they were presented before the court. The remaining suspects have absconded.