DMK cadre being picked up by police at Kariyapatti in Virudhunagar district on Monday.
| Photo Credit: HANDOUT
Over 45 cadres of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were arrested by the police when they staged a protest demanding the dismissal of State Minister for Human Resources Management D. Sarathkumar, on charges of abusing drugs, at Kariyapatti in Virudhunagar district on Monday.The protest was organised by the party’s students’ wing.Even as the agitators, led by the students’ wing functionary Karuppuraja started to raise slogans pressing for the dismissal of the Minister, the police rounded them up and arrested them.The protest had been organised after a recent video clipping that went viral in the social media showed the Minister powdering some white substance laid on his mobile phone using a debit card while watching an IPL match in Chennai sometime back.The agitators claimed that the Minister was using some narcotic substance in a public place though the Minister had clarified that he had tried to crush a tablet for his daughter who was not well on that particular day.Meanwhile, Tiruchuli MLA and party North district secretary Thangam Thennarasu condemned the arrest of the DMK cadres.“Instead of conducting proper enquiry into the allegation made against the Minister, attempt to cripple the opposition party cadres who were protesting in a democratic way was not acceptable,” he said in a social media post.Stating that the DMK cadres who attempted to stage protest across the State were arrested, he said that all of them should be released immediately.The Government should take immediate action on this issue, he said. Published - June 29, 2026 06:38 pm IST
