Around 40,000 members of DMK, including its treasurer MK Stalin and several other senior leaders, were today arrested across Tamil Nadu for staging a protest against "foisting" of land grabbing cases against partymen.
Police said the arrests were made when they staging demonstrations at the district headquarters, including Chennai, without permission.
Besides Stalin, son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, party stalwarts like Lok Sabha member TKS Elangovan, Chennai mayor M Subramanian, Madurai deputy mayor Mannan, former ministers M Palanichamy, MP Saminathan, A Tamilarasi and scores of district secretaries were held.
The arrested, including Stalin, were released later.
The DMK's first major protest since AIADMK came to power comes in the backdrop of the crackdown on land grabbing in which several functionaries of the Karunanidhi-led party have been arrested.
The agitating DMK men raised slogans condemning "police atrocities".
Stalin alleged that the Jayalalithaa regime was indulging in "political vendetta" against the DMK, a charge repeatedly levelled by Karunanidhi since the state government set up special police cells to act on complaints of land grabbing.
Jayalalithaa has denied the charge of vendetta politics saying the special police cells were acting on "genuine" complaints by "affected" persons with no political links.
DMK leaders, including its Salem strongman and former minister Veerapandi S Arumugam, Chepauk (Chennai) MLA J Anbazhagan, close aides of Union minister MK Alagiri and others have already been arrested on landgrab charges.
