TN BJP Condemns DMK Govt For Detaining Farmers Protesting Against Land Acqusition For SIPCOT Under Goondas Act: Annamalai

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai today (16 November) said that his party condemned the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) decision to detain farmers under the Goondas Act for protesting against the acquisition of agricultural land for a proposed State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) industrial park.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, "While we think the DMK Govt can't stoop any lower than its current state, they have proved us wrong by detaining farmers under the Goondas Act.

"Farmers in Tiruvannamalai district in TN have been protesting peacefully for the last 125 days against the government’s decision to acquire 3200 acres of agricultural land for the proposed sipcot.

"We condemn this cowardly act of the DMK Govt & @BJP4TamilNadu assures full legal support for the families of the detainees to ensure that the protesting farmers are protected from this Fascist DMK Regime."

Along with the post he shared a letter regarding the detention of one Mr Pachaiyyapan and a picture of a report by The New Indian Express.

According to the report, during the hearing of the bail plea of 20 farmers, the public prosecutor KV Manoharan informed the Principal District and Sessions Judge P Madhusudhanan that the state government was in the process of initiating proceedings under the Goondas Act against seven farmers and the matter was adjourned to 20 November.

The report also stated that the farmers were booked under sections 147, 341, 143, 294(b), 353 and 506(1) of the IPC and the Public Property Act.