‘Treated like a criminal’: MIDS professor picked up by Chennai cops over fake post

An associate professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), A Kalaiyarasan, has accused the Tamil Nadu police of forcefully picking him up from his Chennai home for questioning over an abusive social media post allegedly made from a fake account bearing his photograph. The post involved abusive remarks against Pallavaram Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA J Kamatchi.

Kalaiyarasan has complained to the Director General of Police seeking action against the police personnel involved and those responsible for misusing his identity.

In his complaint dated Wednesday, October 28, Kalaiyarasan said three policemen in plain clothes arrived at his Adyar residence around 5 am, took his mobile phone and told him they were taking him to T4 Sankar Nagar police station in Pammal. They allegedly accused him of posting an abusive comment targeting Pallavaram TVK MLA J Kamatchi.

The incident comes days after Kalaiyarasan appeared in a television interview discussing inflation in Tamil Nadu, questioning the rise in the cost of essential commodities and the state government’s response to it.

The economist is the co-author of The Dravidian Model, published by Cambridge University Press, and has held academic and research positions in India and abroad. He has also contributed to the Tamil Nadu government’s Economic Survey on industrial policy and labour markets.

Kalaiyarasan said the policemen did not show him a complaint, FIR or any document authorising the inquiry. He said he denied having an Instagram account and told them he did not know the MLA, but was taken away in a rented car without being allowed to inform his family.

The vehicle stopped by the roadside near Pallavaram for around 45 minutes while the policemen made and received calls, according to his complaint. They subsequently told him they had been instructed to take him back home.

During the return journey, the policemen showed him a screenshot of the alleged comment from an Instagram account with the username @youvijayamani. The account used Kalaiyarasan’s photograph as its profile picture, but he said he had no knowledge of it. He suspected that the photograph had been taken from the Harvard University website, where he had previously worked as a research affiliate.

After reaching his residence, Kalaiyarasan said he was asked to submit a written statement denying any connection with the account. He wrote to the T4 Sankar Nagar police inspector stating that the account was not his and that he was unaware of any Instagram profile using his photograph. The policemen returned his phone and dropped him home around 7.45 am.

“I felt deeply harassed and humiliated by the way I was treated, without being given even a reasonable opportunity to explain myself,” Kalaiyarasan wrote in his complaint. He said he had been treated like a criminal despite being the victim of someone allegedly misusing his photograph.

Kalaiyarasan also expressed concern that the incident could discourage people from participating in public debate and academic discussions. He asked the DGP to initiate action over what he described as unlawful detention, the creation of a fake account and the publication of derogatory comments in his name.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary P Shanmugam condemned the police action, saying Kalaiyarasan had been taken from his home without any apparent reason.

“Midnight arrests and early morning arrests raise doubts about whether a police state is being established. If there was a complaint, the police could have registered a case, issued a summons and conducted an inquiry through due process,” Shanmugam said.

He described the manner in which the professor was taken away as unacceptable.

However, Sankar Nagar police inspector Rajasekar told The Times of India that Kalaiyarasan was taken for questioning because the account carried his name and photograph. He denied allegations of harassment and said the professor was returned home after police established that he had no involvement in the account.