Salem: AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday lashed out at the DMK alleging that the law and order situation was badly marred by interference in the police functioning whenever the DMK ruled the state. People should shut the doors on the DMK by raising this law and order issue when the DMK leaders and candidates approach them for votes, she told a huge election rally here where she introduced 51 candidates from Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur, Niligiris, Salem and Namakkal districts besides seven candidates from Kerala.
Police found their hands tied during the DMK rule so much so they could not act on even genuine complaints from the public regarding law and order breaches, land grab and such other violence by goons, Jayalalithaa said while recalling that the late DMK minister Veerapandi S Arumugam had himself faced land grab charges in Salem.
“Even ministers (during the DMK rule) colluded with anti-social elements to get involved in land grab. Fake documents were prepared to snatch away property even as the police found their hands were tied to prevent acting on complaints from the victims”, Jayalalithaa alleged.
She said when her AIADMK came to power in the 2011 elections, the police were given free hand to act on public complaints without having to worry about political interference. “The rule of law has been established and the crime rate dropped”, said Jayalalithaa, who also holds the Home portfolio.
The chief minister said around 6000 complaints had been lodged during the DMK regime on such law and order issues and land-grab but charge-sheets were filed only in about 300 cases.
“Many people would have lost property. That is why my government set up special cells and courts to probe and dispose land-grab and property cases,” she said.
Acting on over 3,200 cases of land grab and property issues, over 5000 acres of land worth about Rs 3,600 crore and 38 lakh sq ft of houses have been restored to rightful owners since the AIADMK government came to power, Jayalalithaa said. She said the voters should slam their doors by raising these issues when the DMK leaders and candidates come seeking their votes.
