Chennai: In an early-morning ordeal, Chennai-based economist A Kalaiyarasan was whisked away from his Adyar residence in his nightclothes by three plainclothes policemen at 5am on Wednesday over an abusive Instagram post targeting a TVK MLA, despite his clarification that he had no such a social media account.
The vehicle later stopped near Pallavaram for about 45 minutes before police received instructions to take him home. He reached home around 7.45am. Because the social media account bore his name and photograph, when contacted, Shankar Nagar inspector Rajasekar said Kalaiyarasan was taken for questioning.
He said police arrived at his residence and asked him to accompany them to Sankar Nagar police station in Pammal. The professor said the personnel neither produced a complaint or FIR nor furnished any document authorising the inquiry. “I felt harassed and humiliated,” Kalaiyarasan said, questioning how police could take someone away in the early hours without giving them a chance to explain. He denied allegations of harassment and said Kalaiyarasan was dropped back home after police established that he had no involvement in the incident.
Later, Kalaiyarasan wrote a complaint to DGP Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, seeking action against the personnel who had harassed him. They accused him of posting an abusive comment against Pallavaram TVK MLA J Kamatchi. he repeatedly requested his phone to contact his family While travelling in a rented car. He was eventually allowed to inform his friends. During the return journey, police showed him a social media account bearing the username @youvijayamani carrying his photograph. Police later asked him to submit a written statement denying ownership of the account before returning his phone. Describing the incident as humiliating, Kalaiyarasan sought action against those responsible for his alleged unlawful detention and identity misuse.
Kalaiyarasan suspected that someone had taken the photograph from Harvard University’s website, where he had previously served as a research affiliate.