BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai detained by police ahead of protest against alleged liquor scam

Several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Tamil Nadu, including the Hindutva party’s state chief K Annamalai and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, were detained by the Chennai Police on Monday ahead of a protest against alleged financial irregularities in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation.

The corporation, better known as Tasmac, is a government-owned company that has a monopoly over the wholesale and retail sales of alcoholic beverages in Tamil Nadu.

Annamalai was detained near his residence in Akkarai as he attempted to travel to the protest site outside the Tasmac headquarters in Chennai’s Egmore.

Soundararajan was taken into custody as she left her home in Saligramam, where police had cordoned off the premises in the morning after her supporters gathered outside, reported The Indian Express.

BJP MLAs Vanathi Srinivasan, who is the national president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, and Saraswathi were also detained near the state Secretariat, reported The Hindu.

Another BJP functionary, Vinoj P Selvam, was detained in T Nagar and a group of party workers were detained in Taramani.

Police also took into custody BJP functionaries and cadre who assembled at Rajarathinam Stadium before marching towards the Tasmac headquarters in Egmore. A scuffle broke out between party workers and police.

The protest was organised based on an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, which has alleged...

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