Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary G. Ramakrishnan on Wednesday said the law and order in Tamil Nadu had deteriorated and the common man on the streets was feeling unsafe.

Addressing mediapersons here, Mr Ramakrishnan pointed out that the Madras High Court, which initiated suo motu proceedings in the case relating to the murder of Infosys employee S. Swathi in Chennai last week, posing a set of 15 questions to State government officials and the Central Government was an indication of the poor state of affairs in Tamil Nadu, he charged.

Recalling recent serious crimes, he said in Thoothukudi a rowdy was murdered and in Salem, a young woman ended her life because police did not act in time on her complaint about someone morphing her photograph. “Across the State, there prevails a situation that was contrary to what the Tamil Nadu Governor had said in his address to the Assembly and the Chief Minister said in her reply thereto,” he said.

‘False cases’

On the other hand, the police attempted to foist false cases on Dalit writer-activist Durai Guna and his friend. In Tallakulam in Madurai, police entered the office of an activist Kathir (director of NGO Evidence), and “kidnapped” a man and woman of different religions who wanted planning to get married. “The police action had come at a time when the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had directed the police to provide protection to inter-caste couples,” he pointed out.

Protest planned

In response to a question, he said the CPI (M) would stage a protest across the State from July 10 to 17 to condemn the anti-people policies of the BJP government that had led to an increase in prices of essential commodities.

Quoting the wholesale price index, the CPI (M) leader said that the price of grains had increased by 35-and-half per cent, of vegetables by 120 per cent and of sugar by 22 per cent.

In the two years of BJP rule, the Centre had failed to pass on the benefits of fall in crude prices to the people. In this period, there had been a rise in unemployment as well.

CPI (M) leader lists the recent crimes in State and police action against innocent persons