Chennai: DMK president M K Stalin on Thursday condemned the Tamil Nadu police for detaining Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) Assistant Professor A Kalaiyarasan over an abusive Instagram comment targeting TVK MLA J Kamatchi, describing the incident as the “peak of fascism”.

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Kalaiyarasan was detained from his residence in the early hours of Wednesday after police allegedly linked him to an Instagram account that had posted an abusive comment against the Pallavaram legislator. He was released around three hours later after police found that his photograph had been misused to create a fake account.

In a strongly worded statement, Stalin criticised the early morning operation, alleging that plainclothes police officers had picked up the professor without following proper procedures. He accused the TVK government of targeting Kalaiyarasan for exposing price rises under the current administration.

Who is Kalaiyarasan?

Kalaiyarasan is a renowned economist and co-author of The Dravidian Model, published by Cambridge University Press. He holds a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and has served on the Union Planning Commission's team. He has also contributed to Tamil Nadu's economic survey and is a member of the state's Climate Change Governing Council.

Stalin rejected the police explanation that the professor had been mistakenly identified.

“It is impossible to believe that they arrested him without knowing his identity. Intimidating educators while letting actual criminals walk free is a massive disgrace,” he said.

In a post on X, the former Chief Minister accused the TVK government of imitating the BJP's methods and questioned whether the police action had the approval of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and senior officials.

Stalin also pointed out that Kalaiyarasan did not belong to any political party and had criticised the previous administration as well. He demanded an unconditional apology from the police and the Chief Minister for what he described as harassment and false allegations.

CPM state secretary P Shanmugam also condemned the detention and called for a proper inquiry. He urged the government to establish who created the fake social media account, who posted the comment, who lodged the complaint and who directed the police to act in the manner they did.

Shanmugam said the circumstances surrounding the detention, including its timing and the conduct of the police, raised concerns that the action was intended to intimidate the professor over a social media post.

In a complaint to the Director General of Police (DGP), Kalaiyarasan alleged that the officers took his mobile phone and asked him to accompany them to T4 Sankar Nagar Police Station in Pammal for an inquiry into a social media post. He said they did not provide any document authorising the inquiry or a copy of the First Information Report (FIR).

Kalaiyarasan said he had no Instagram account and was unfamiliar with both the account in question and the MLA. He alleged that the officers did not listen to his explanation before taking him away in a hired car parked outside his residence.

He also said he was not initially allowed to inform his family about what was happening. After repeated requests, he was permitted to use his phone briefly to alert his friends.

According to his complaint, the police remained in Pallavaram for around 45 minutes before informing him that they had received orders to take him home. During the return journey, they showed him a screenshot of the abusive comment posted by an account using his photograph but a different username, @youvijayamani.

Kalaiyarasan said the photograph appeared to have been taken from the Harvard University website, where he had been a research affiliate. He was asked to provide a written statement denying any connection with the account before being dropped at his apartment.

Describing the episode as deeply humiliating, Kalaiyarasan sought action against those responsible for his detention, the creation of the fake account, the derogatory post and the alleged damage to his reputation.

PTI