The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) expelled its Pollachi youth wing Town secretary, Arulanantham, following his arrest by the CBI in the Pollachi sexual assault and extortion case on Wednesday. AIADMK party coordinator O Panneerselvam and AIADMK co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday issued a statement expelling Arulanantham from primary membership of the party and said he had functioned against the ideology and tainted the party.
Apart from Arulanantham, the CBI arrested two others, Keronbal and Babu, reportedly after two more women recorded their statements against the accused in connection with the larger sexual assault case. The arrest of the AIADMK member gains significance since there were allegations earlier that party members were being shielded from arrest. Four people- Sabarirajan, Thirunavukkarasu, Sathish and Vasanthkumar - were arrested by the CBI in 2019 and are currently in custody.
After the latest arrests, DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday questioned the AIADMK over its member’s involvement in the crime.
"Till date the voice of the woman saying 'Brother, please don't hit me' tears our hearts. The sexual assaults were carried out by people connected with AIADMK and with the support of the party,” Stalin tweeted, referring to an audio clipping of one of the survivors.