Tamil Nadu: BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan detained during protest against TASMAC scam

Chennai/IBNS: Senior Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tamilisai Soundararajan was on Monday detained by police during the party's protest against the alleged TASMAC scam, media reports said.
Soundararajan was detained from her residence amid heavy security.
When she was taken by police, Soundararajan told the media, "They are arresting me from my house... I won't go separately. I want everyone to come with me..."
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu | Police detain BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan; she says, "They are arresting me from my house...I won't go separately; I want everyone to come with me..." https://t.co/B6ce8p8H5t pic.twitter.com/k19SHfHx1N
— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2025
The BJP leader had flagged the Enforcement Directorate's finding of alleged irregularities worth Rs. 1,000 crore in the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC).
Soundararajan has accused Tamil Nadu minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise, Senthil Balaji, of being the kingpin.
She has accused Balaji of being involved in every scam.
The detention triggered local BJP leaders' resistance and protests on the street. A scuffle between police and local workers was seen in video footage.
BJP state president K Annamalai has accused the DMK government of launching a crackdown on the saffron camp out of fear.
Annamalai posted on X earlier this morning, "You have been using lower-level officials for your own ends, using people who have been glued together for years.
"Is it because you declared the protest democratically and announced the date of the blockade in advance that you are able to engage in such cowardly actions? What can you do if we suddenly launch a protest one day, without announcing a date?"
திமுக அரசின் ரூ.1,000 கோடி டாஸ்மாக் ஊழலைக் கண்டித்து, @BJP4Tamilnadu சார்பில், இன்று சென்னை டாஸ்மாக் தலைமை அலுவலகம் முற்றுகைப் போராட்டம் அறிவித்திருந்தோம். தொடைநடுங்கி திமுக அரசு, @BJP4Tamilnadu மூத்த தலைவர்களில் ஒருவரும், முன்னாள் ஆளுநருமான, அக்கா திருமதி @DrTamilisai4BJP,… pic.twitter.com/em0UUH5sjF
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 17, 2025