Pottu Suresh booked for attacking journo

MADURAI: Yet another case was registered against Union Minister MK Alagiri’s close confidante ‘Pottu’ Suresh on Tuesday for threatening and attacking a journalist.Cases have also been registered against the then Assistant Commissioner of Police, Madurai City Intelligence Section, Kumaravel, who is presently serving as DSP in Tiruvannamalai.According to police sources, an article was published in Naveena Netrikan (a Tamil weekly) on October 22, 2009 with a rhetoric that ‘Pottu’ Suresh was the deputy chief minister. Journalist Pandian, who wrote the article, received a threat call from ACP Kumaravel, who allegedly warned him that ‘Pottu’ Suresh will not spare anyone in his family.Later, a police team visited Pandian’s residence at Thadaiyampatti and allegedly tortured the family members to reveal Pandian’s whereabouts. Pandian, fearing for his life ever since he received the threat call from the ACP, had gone into hiding. The team then illegally detained some relatives of Pandian and tortured them to reveal the whereabouts of Pandian. After the incident, a police team and goons again visited Pandian’s residence.  The men had also attacked the parents of Pandian who were working in their farm. Irked by this, the local s deflated tyres of the vehicle. They were rescued by the police. It was also said that DMK men were pressuring the family and traumatised by this, Pandian’s father Karupaiah died.In the meantime, ‘Pottu’ Suresh lodged a complaint against Pandian on charges of extortion and Pandian was able to obtain conditional bail after four months. As per the conditions, Pandian was to sign at  the Tallakulam Police Station both in the morning and evening. The day when Pandian came to sign the register, he was taken into illegal custody. He was made to wait at the ACP’s room until ‘Pottu’ Suresh, his brother Saravanan and ACP Kumaravel arrived. Pandian was attacked by ‘Pottu’ Suresh and his brother in the presence of the ACP. They also used abusive language against him, while the ACP forced Pandian to apologise to Suresh for writing the article. Pandian, who did not relent, was let off after being beaten up severely. It is also said that Pandian had approached the Elumalai Police seeking action against all those responsible for his father’s death. Since Pottu Suresh enjoyed political clout, the case was never registered during the tenure of M Manoharan, the then SP.A fresh petition was filed by Pandian before present Superintendent of Police Asra Garg, who forwarded the petition to Additional SP Mayilvaganan for action. Based on the investigation, cases were registered against Pottu Suresh, Saravanan, Kumaravel, Parthiban and others.

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