Former Minister Jayakumar released from prison
The Hindu
AIADMK leader and former Minister D. Jayakumar was released on bail and was given a grand reception by his supporters on Saturday.
Mr. Jayakumar was arrested by the city police on February 20 in a case relating to assaulting and parading a DMK cadre without his shirt, for allegedly attempting to cast bogus vote in a booth at Royapuram on the day of local bodies polls. Subsequently, another arrest was also effected for a road blockade case and a property dispute.
He was granted bail in two cases last week and the Madras High Court granted him bail in the third case on Friday. Following this, he was released on bail on Saturday morning. Talking to reporters here, Mr. Jayakumar said cases have been foisted against him to intimidate the AIADMK and party cadre. He added that these vendetta politics would not work against the AIADMK.
Later, AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam and co-coordinator Edappadi K.Palaniswami and former Ministers met Mr. Jayakumar at his residence in Pattinambakkam and enquired about his health.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.