Alagiri chargesheeted in Tahsildar attack case

MADURAI: Union Chemicals Minister and DMK south zone organising secretary M K Alagiri appeared in a Melur court on Thursday to receive a chargesheet against him and 21 other party cadre in an election-related violence case. Alagiri and the other accused have been charged with attempting to attack M Kalimuthu, a tahsildar who was on election duty in Melur during the Assembly elections in April last year.The case had witnessed some interesting twists and turns. On April 1, last year, Kalimuthu who was the assistant returning officer for Melur constituency had ordered the election commission’s videographer to film a group of DMK men who had gathered at a local temple to canvass votes. Alagiri had allegedly objected to this and in the ensuing melee Kalimuthu was manhandled.The tahsildar had initially filed a complaint against Alagiri and others at the Keelavalavu police station. However, within a day he had backtracked claiming that he had submitted the complaint under pressure from higher-officials. Later, he did another volte face by sticking to his original complaint.Others accused in the case include then Madurai deputy mayor P M Mannan and DMK functionary A Raghupathy. The Judicial Magistrate at Melur had directed all the accused to appear before him to receive the chargesheet in October last year. Except Alagiri, the others had complied with the direction. Alagiri received the chargesheet on Thursday after which the JM posted the case for further proceedings on January 19.