Arrest of ISI spies have created panic among people: Karunanidhi

CHENNAI: DMK chief M Karunanidhi today said the arrest of ISI spies and their activities in Tamil Nadu has created panic among people and asked why no arrests have been made in connection with the May 1 twin bomb blasts in a train at the Central Railway Station in which a woman was killed.

Referring to the arrest of alleged ISI spy Arun Selvarjan last week by the National Investigation Agency, he said it was not the first time 'such terrorists' had been apprehended during the AIADMK rule.

He recalled that while one Thameem Ansari was arrested last year from Tiruchirappalli on espionage charges, another operative, Zakir Hussain, was nabbed here along with three of his accomplices early this year.

All of them had worked at the behest of a Pakistani consular official in Sri Lanka, he said.

"Reports of movement of terrorists and their activities in Tamil Nadu has created panic among people," Karunanidhi said in a statement.

He also recalled the incident when a 'pipe' bomb, targeting BJP leader LK Advani who was on a tour then, was found and diffused in October 2011 near Madurai.

The DMK chief said his government had taken all steps for maintaining law and order in the state, especially on terror-prevention front.

Two key Naxal leaders wanted for many years were nabbed during his government's tenure between 2006-11 but Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, then opposition leader, had in 2008 flayed the state government on law and order issue, he said.

She had then even alleged Tamil Nadu had become a 'safe haven' for terrorists, Karunanidhi said.

Referring to her criticism on his continuing in power after the serial blasts in Coimbatore in 1998, he sought the Chief Minister's explanation on why none has been arrested in connection with the May 1 Central station twin bomb blasts.