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'They carried me out like a parcel': Maran

“They carried Karunanidhi away like a bundle, and hit me in the chest where I have a pacemaker fitted,” Union Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran said, in course of a first-person accounts of the events surrounding the arrest of former chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday.

Maran’s blow by blow account has, the minister's aides said, been faxed to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and NDA convenor George Fernandes.

According to the account, a posse of more than 20 police personal brutally attacked him and the DMK president.

The account says Karunanidhi was brutally attacked by the police, and he lost his balance and fell down."Karunanidhi was crying out in pain. Immediately after carrying him down, the police bolted the doors from outside and went away, carrying Karunanidhi who was uttering sounds because of physical pain inflicted on him," the account reads.

According to Maran, he rushed to Karunanidhi’s house after getting a call from the DMK president requesting help. But as he reached Karunanidhi’s house, the police surrounded his car and without warning, opened the car door and dragged him out.

Two IPS officers, whom Maran names as George and Christopher, shouted: “You are under arrest.”

“They abused me in filthy language and without caring for my physical condition, they said that if I did not get down, they would teach me a lesson,” Maran’s account reads.

Maran talks of how some police officers hesitated to arrest him, and how the officer whom he identifies as George then shoved him around. “Others started showering blow after blow on me," Maran's account reads. "Then they carried me out like a parcel and dropped me down at the portico. I had a spell of dizziness and fell down on the doorstep,” Maran’s narration says.

“Because they hit me on my right eye, my spectacle got smashed. Because it was made of plastic, my eye did not get damaged.

“Then I felt a blow on my head. One fellow shouted "Hit him in the right place" and then I received a blow on my left chest where I am fitted with a pacemaker. My dhoti was lifted and torn and I was in my underwear. Then they threw me down and hit me with their heavy boots. I received wounds in my left foot and blood was flowing out,” Maran’s account says.

“Immediately I felt abnormal palpitation and was gasping for breath, which are bad symptoms for my heart ailment. I do remember now that I murmured, 'Take me to the hospital.' Soon after that, I fainted.

“When I woke up, with a torn dhoti and bleeding leg, I was taken to the vehicle; the driver told me that the police had taken away the keys of the vehicle and ran away. With the help of my wife and DMK cadres, I went to the street. An auto-rickshaw driver recognised me and took me to the house of Principal Sessions Judge Mr Ashok Kumar.

“Then I was taken in an ambulance van, which had arrived just then, to the Apollo Hospital Emergency Ward. I went through various examinations, and they admitted me as a patient,” Maran said in his account.

Maran’s version of the event is expected to be discussed at the Cabinet meeting that is scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, Maran will not leave Apollo Hospital, where he was admitted on Saturday, even though the state government has formally dropped all charges against him.

Maran’s son Dayanidhi told rediff.com that his father will have to remain in the hospital for at least a couple of days more. “His pacemaker has slightly shifted during the police assault,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu police for its part has removed the guards placed outside Maran's ward, soon after its decision on Monday to release the Union minister.

Karunanidhi's Arrest: The Complete Coverage

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