Man detained for threatening Karunanidhi's wife with toy gun

In a security breach, a man wielding a toy gun entered the house of DMK chief M Karunanidhi's wife Rajathi Ammal here on Tuesday and demanded money before being nabbed by police.

The man walked up the first floor of the CIT colony residence of Ammal, living with her daughter and DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, pointed the toy gun and demanded money and jewellery, DMK party sources said.

Ammal was at that time talking with a woman relative. The 73-year-old asked the man to wait as she would bring money. She rushed downstairs and called the police.

The intruder held Ammal's relative as hostage but freed her after police arrived, and subsequently he was nabbed.

When he threatened Ammal and her relative, none knew that the firearm was actually a toy gun. It became known only after a police enquiry.

"We have lodged a formal complaint," sources close to Kanimozhi told PTI.

A senior police official said a probe was on and added that additional guards had been posted at Kanimozhi's residence.

Hearing about the incident from her mother, Kanimozhi rushed back home from a DMK meet.

Asked how the intruder gained entry when the house was guarded by the police, the official said the man scaled the wall from a side where there were no sentries and at a time when there was not much public movement.