By Express News Service

THOOTHUKUDI: The Pudukottai police on Wednesday summoned research scholar S Lois Sofia to appear for inquiry at the station on September 7 and surrender her passport.

Following a complaint filed by BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan, Sofia was booked under Section 290 of the IPC and Section 75 (1)(C) of Tamil Nadu City Police Act on August 3. She was later produced before a court, which granted her bail.

Sofia, a research scholar at the University of Montreal in Canada came to Chennai on vacation. She boarded a flight to Thoothukudi from Chennai on Monday along with her parents, Dr Samy and Manohari. The BJP State president was seated in front of her on the same flight.

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Sofia allegedly shouted anti-BJP slogans, which led to her arrest. The issue soon snowballed into a major issue. Tamilisai lodged a complaint with the Pudhukottai police station, seeking action against the scholar.

Vaiko wants case dropped

CHENNAI: MDMK general secretary Vaiko has urged the state government to withdraw the case filed against Lois Sofia for shouting anti-BJP slogans at the Thoothukudi airport in the presence of BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan, to enable her to continue her higher studies in Canada. He said Sofia had expressed the fear and anger of people.

Tamilisai denies giving death threat

CHENNAI: Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday denied the charge that she had given death threats to Lois Sofia. In a statement, Tamilisai said, “I didn’t give death threats to the woman and her family. It’s all a fabricated story. I only kept asking her, ‘was it acceptable to talk in a public place like that. Only my portion of the video clip is being shown in TV channels.”