A Kalaiyarasan detention in Chennai over a fake social media post has triggered a ministerial apology, demands for an inquiry and renewed questions about police accountability after the professor said he was taken from his home without an explanation.
Madras Institute of Development Studies professor A Kalaiyarasan was detained at about 5am on October 28 after police allegedly linked him to a fake post carrying his photograph. In a complaint to the Tamil Nadu director general of police, Kalaiyarasan said officers took his phone, transported him in a private vehicle and did not give him a reasonable opportunity to explain the matter.
He said the ordeal lasted nearly two hours, after which he was dropped back at his home. “I was humiliated by the way I was treated without being given even a reasonable opportunity to explain,” Kalaiyarasan said in the complaint, according to the report. He also said the incident raised concerns about police entering homes in the early hours and taking people away despite having no connection to the alleged offence.
The incident prompted criticism from former chief minister M K Stalin and leaders of several political parties. They accused the TVK government of using police action against critics and demanded an inquiry into who ordered the detention. Stalin also questioned whether Kalaiyarasan had been targeted because of his book, ‘The Dravidian Model’, and his criticism of the government’s handling of price inflation. Those claims were made by Stalin and were not independently established in the supplied report.
Law minister C T R Nirmal Kumar said he had called Kalaiyarasan and apologised. “It was a mistake on the part of local police,” the minister told reporters. The apology came as criticism intensified over the detention and before TVK leader Vijay met the professor at the secretariat.
Vijay spoke to Kalaiyarasan for around 20 minutes. The meeting followed demands from opposition leaders that Vijay apologise for what they described as an illegal detention. VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan said the action could have occurred without the chief minister’s knowledge, but added that this did not make the police conduct acceptable.
Other leaders, including CPM MP S Venkatesan, AMMK general secretary T T V Dhinakaran, NTK chief Seeman, CPM state secretary P Shanmugam and CPI state secretary M Veerapandian, also condemned the incident. Venkatesan said the detention was especially serious because the Instagram account carrying the post reportedly had only five followers, and demanded a detailed inquiry and legal action against those responsible.
The episode has placed the focus on how local police respond to allegedly false online content, particularly when a person’s identity is used without authorisation. It has also raised concerns about whether hurried enforcement action can affect public participation, academic debate and trust in municipal and state institutions. The supplied report does not state whether any criminal case was registered, whether the post’s origin was established or whether disciplinary action has begun.
The immediate official responses are the law minister’s apology, Vijay’s meeting with Kalaiyarasan and opposition demands for a formal investigation into the police action. Further developments will depend on the DGP’s response to the professor’s complaint and any inquiry ordered by the government.
