AIADMK functionary held for defaming Duraimurugan on social media

CHENNAI: An IT wing functionary of the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu's Vellore has been arrested for posting and spreading false and defamatory news about senior DMK leader and state minister S. Duraimurugan, police said on Thursday.

'Pollachi' Arun Kumar was arrested on late Wednesday evening on the basis of a complaint filed by local DMK leader, Vanniayara at the Katpadi police station on April 1.

The issue started after the minister, in a speech in the Assembly on March 29, said that his epitaph should be read as 'Gopalapuram Loyalist' which means he is an ardent loyalist of the late DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi and his family whose family house is situated at Gopalapuram in Chennai.

According to Vanniyara's complaint, Arun Kumar had taken a photograph from the Twitter handle of Duraimurugan and morphed it and depicted the minister in a cemetery with a few audio clippings and shot a video of this. He then circulated this photograph on social media and it turned viral.

Based on the complaint, the Katpadi police arrested Arun Kumar under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 505 (publishing or circulating rumours) as well as the Information technology Act, 2000.

Arun Kumar has been sent to judicial custody.