TVK MLA bribery case: Arrests rise to eight

Five more people have been arrested in connection with the alleged attempt to bribe TVK MLA N Elaiyaraja, taking the total arrests to eight. Police alleged the accused conspired to influence the legislator ahead of a proposed no-confidence motion

Chennai: Five more persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged attempt to bribe a TVK MLA, taking the total number of arrests in the case to eight, the police said.

Following a complaint by ruling party legislator N Elaiyaraja, who represents the Uthangarai Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district, the Triplicane police arrested Selvan of Pallikaranai; E M Srinivasan, 46, of Madambakkam; Rajesh, 43, of Chromepet; and Karthik, 43, and Ramesh, 45, both from Karur district.

---

Thirunavukkarasu of Arumbakkam, along with Naresh of Tiruchirappalli and Thiyagarajan of Medavakkam, were arrested on July 1 and remanded to judicial custody, the police said.

In his complaint dated June 29, Elaiyaraja said he received a phone call from Thirunavukkarasu, a pollster with Indian Political Democratic Strategies (IPDS), who allegedly claimed to represent certain functionaries of a major political party. He allegedly offered Rs 35 crore to the MLA to vote in favour of a “no-confidence motion” to be brought against the Speaker in the Assembly.

The MLA alleged that he was threatened after he declined the offer and that even his family was intimidated. He sought appropriate action against Thirunavukkarasu.

During the investigation, it came to light that Karthik and Ramesh held talks with Naresh at a star hotel on ECR and sought the legislator’s cooperation during the proposed no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

Accordingly, Naresh invited Srinivasan, Selvan and Rajesh to a hotel in Guindy through his friend Thiyagarajan and allegedly conspired to bribe the MLA, a police release said. It added that all five were produced before a city court on July 2 and remanded to judicial custody.

Further investigation is underway.