AIADMK legislators, functionaries begin hunger strike over hooch tragedy
Chennai (PTI): Led by party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami, AIADMK MLAs and party workers commenced their hunger strike here on Thursday to seek CBI investigation into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy.
Clad in black shirts, the AIADMK legislators, who have been suspended from the ongoing Assembly session for disrupting proceedings, began their fast here by 9 am at the Rajarathinam stadium. The fast is also to condemn 'denial of permission' to raise the issue in the state Assembly, according to the main opposition party.
Palaniswami had said on Wednesday that 'denying a honest debate' over the hooch tragedy, that has reportedly left over 60 dead, and evicting and suspending AIADMK MLAs was against democracy.
The former Chief Minister condemned what he described as 'diversionary politics' of the DMK government rather than taking action over hooch deaths. The hunger strike is likely to end by 5 pm on Thursday.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
