Chennai: A Magistrate court on Tuesday refused to remand veteran journalist Nakkeeran Gopal to judicial custody. Gopal was detained at the Chennai airport.
Gopal, who is the editor of a Tamil bi-weekly magazine ‘Nakkeeran’, was arrested by the Chennai Police over a complaint filed by Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s office over his publication’s reportage on the Nirmala Devi case.
Reportedly, the magazine run by Gopal featured pictures of Purohit and Nirmala Devi, an accused in the Madurai Kamaraj University sex scandal.
“It’s a victory. It’s a slap on the Raj Bhavan. It’s also for spineless Tamil Nadu government which acted upon the Governor’s wish. The court has passed a right judgement,” Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko, who was also detained by the police, told reporters.
Gopal’s arrest also invited criticism from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president and leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly MK Stalin who slammed both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre and the AIADMK government in the state.
“The arrest of Nakkeeran Gopal was not correct. Let me ask, why is the BJP leader H Raja who had given provocative speeches in the past has not been arrested yet? Why is SVE Sekhar still free?” Stalin asked.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]