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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has asked state Director General of Police B P Nailwal to form a special team to nab her political rival V Gopalaswamy, popularly known as Vaiko, when he returns to India.
Vaiko heads the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), a partner in the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre
Nailwal told rediff.com that Vaiko and eight of his supporters have been charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and other penal laws for making 'highly provocative pro-LTTE speeches at a public meeting on June 29'.
He said the LTTE - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - is a banned terrorist organisation in India and, therefore, any public meeting in its support is a serious criminal offence.
The LTTE is fighting for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka.
Nailwal said his officers are examining the veracity of Vaiko's recent public speeches and 'we will do the needful when he returns from abroad'.
Vaiko, a member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha and whose two party colleagues are ministers in the Vajpayee government, is expected to be back from the United States on July 12.
"The chief minister's office is in possession of certain incriminating documents showing Vaiko's continuing links with the LTTE," a senior functionary at Jayalalithaa's office told rediff.com.
The official disclosed that Jayalalithaa has sent the documents and video copies of Vaiko's provocative pro-LTTE statements to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister L K Advani.
"I supported the LTTE yesterday. I support the LTTE today and I will continue to support the LTTE," Vaiko is reported to have said in a speech.
Advani, on his part, has asked home ministry officials to submit a report on the controversy.
However, he has clarified that Vaiko getting booked under POTA is strictly a matter under the jurisdiction of the Tamil Nadu government.
Vaiko issued a statement from Chicago - where he is attending a series of functions organized by Tamil organisations - saying that Jayalalithaa's move to arrest him is politically motivated.
"I cannot be cowed down by any show of force on the part of the state government. I dare Jayalalithaa to arrest me under POTA," he said.
Over the years, the MDMK chief has been in the forefront of demanding a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka. Vaiko is said to be close to LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran who has been fighting for an independent Tamil Eelam for two decades now.
In 1989, when the Indian Peace Keeping Force was trying to contain the LTTE at the request of the Sri Lankan government, Vaiko traveled incognito to the Jaffna jungles and met with Prabhakaran to express his solidarity with the LTTE.
Ever since the Indian government banned the LTTE in the wake of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991, Vaiko has been pressing for de-proscription of the outfit.
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