OPS, aides booked on charges related to rioting and theft at AIADMK office, case transferred to CB-CID

According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered on 13 August, OPS and others have been booked under sections 147, 148, 454, 380, 409, 427 and 506 (2) of the Indian Penal Code based on the complaint filed by senior AIADMK leader and Member of Parliament C Ve Shanmugam.

The decision to transfer the probe to CB-CID comes after Shanmugam moved the High Court seeking a probe by the CBI or any other special investigative team constituted by the court in the matter.

In his petition, Shanmugam alleged that the police personnel who were stationed at the AIADMK headquarters on 11 July “stood as mere spectators with the sole intent of helping the hooligans” allegedly brought in by OPS to unleash violence at the party office.

“With the active support of the police…OPS and his supporters criminally trespassed into the party headquarters with deadly weapons such as stones and sickles and ransacked the premises and also looted several important files and documents from the office,” he claimed.

Shanmugam added that the Chennai police “exposed their favouritism towards the offenders (OPS camp)”, and therefore there would “not be any fair investigation” by them into the offences committed on 11 July.

Though the cases were transferred to the CB-CID, the counsel appearing for the petitioner said that the FIR had been registered only after a plea seeking a CBI probe was filed and after the court ordered notice to the police on 11 August.

Noting that the delay on the part of the police in registering the complaint amounted to police inaction, the judge decided to monitor the probe as the cases were already transferred to the CB-CID and directed it to file a status report by 19 September.

The July 11 scuffle

Dramatic scenes unfolded outside and inside the AIADMK party headquarters in Royapettah on 11 July while the General Council meeting of the party was being held at a wedding hall in Vanagaram, on the outskirts of Chennai.

OPS, instead of going to the General Council meeting, went to the party office along with his supporters as the main agenda of the meeting was to do away with the dual leadership in the AIADMK and elect Edappadi K Palanisamy (EPS) as the interim General Secretary of the party.

After OPS arrived at the AIADMK office, clashes broke out between supporters of OPS and EPS.

Stones were pelted, cadres were attacked and vehicles that were parked in the area were also damaged.

Inside, party workers broke open the main door of the AIADMK office.

Posters of EPS were torn and put on fire.

Visuals of several files being loaded inside vans had also emerged.

After the clashes went out of control, more police force was deployed to contain the situation.

The district revenue officials also visited the spot and sealed the AIADMK office citing the law-and-order situation.

Following this, both EPS and OPS camp approached the court, seeking keys, and thereby the control of the AIADMK office.

After hearing the arguments, the court quashed the order of the Revenue Division Officer (RDO) to seal the party office and handed over the keys to EPS.

After receiving the keys, when C Ve Shanmugam and other AIADMK leaders went inside the party office, they found that it was ransacked.

Files were strewn around, furniture broken and the office was vandalised.

Though OPS challenged the order of the Madras High Court handing over the keys of the AIADMK office in the Supreme Court, the apex court refused to grant an interim stay in the matter.