DMK MLA, party colleague appear in court in gutkha raid case

A court here today directed DMK MLA N Karthik to sign at a local police station daily until further orders in connection with a case related to alleged obstruction caused during a raid on an illegal gutkha unit.

Sulur Magistrate C Vediyappan gave the direction to Karthik and also his party colleague Thangaraj when the two appeared before him following grant of anticipatory bail by the additional district sessions court.

He ordered them to sign at the police station once in the morning daily until further orders.

Cases were registered against 10 people, including Karthik, Thangaraj and former Kannampalayam Panchayat president Dalapathi Murugesan, on the charge of obstructing the police from carrying out their duty during the raids on the gutkha unit in Kannampalayam near here on April 27.

Judge M Gunasekaran had granted anticipatory bail to Karthik and Thangaraj on May 10.

The local DMK men, including Karthik, had staged a protest seeking a thorough probe into the unearthing of the gutkha unit.

Talking to reporters outside the court today, Karthik alleged the cases were foisted on DMK workers to tarnish the image of the party.