Jayalalitha arrested

FORMER Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha was= arrested in Chennai (Madras) on 7 December on corruption charges. Five= members of her former cabinet were detained earlier accused of plundering= the state=92s treasury.

Jayalalitha and her erstwhile confidante= Sasikala are alleged to have amassed wealth to a staggering Rs 1 billion= ($20 million). The two leading ladies owned a string of posh houses and= received monies from abroad under tax relief schemes.

Current Chief= Minister Karunanidhi denies that corruption charges are a political= vendetta against his chief opponent in the state. New Delhi-based journal= India Today says that by keeping the pressure on her, Mr= Karunanidhi is preparing the ground for his son MK Stalin, recently elected= Mayor of Chennai, to succeed as Chief Minister.

After Indian MPs= expressed concern that Ms Jayalalitha faced danger from the LTTE, security= in Chennai=92s central jail was strengthened. While in office Ms= Jayalalitha set in motion measures to curtail LTTE activities and was the= most protected person in India, guarded by elite Black Cat= commandos.

Vigilance against LTTE infiltration continues in Tamil= Nadu and in the Palk Strait dividing India and Sri Lanka. The Indian Navy= has intercepted many boats carrying refugees from Sri Lanka. Reports say= that the Indian High Commission in Colombo has been instructed by New Delhi= to exercise extreme care in issuing visas to Sri Lankan Tamils.=

Tamil Nadu police arrested Thani Thamilar Movement Secretary Suba= Veerapandian on 5 December after he encouraged support for the Tigers at a= conference on 19 November. Communist Party Secretary P Maniyarasan who = called for lifting of the ban on the LTTE was detained on 10 December.= Sources say that Mr Karunanidhi told Tamil expatriates who met him that the= LTTE was the cause for his government=92s removal in 1990 and there will be= no repeats.

Indian fishermen in Rameswaram began a two-day= demonstration in mid-December after two of their colleagues were shot dead= near Kachachativu by the Sri Lankan Navy which has intensified its patrols= to prevent LTTE smuggling fuel and food across the Palk Strait. Another= fishermen was killed by the Navy on 11 December.
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