AMMK workers arrested for assaulting election officials granted bail

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Chennai: The Madras High Court has granted bail to four AMMK workers who were arrested for allegedly attacking election officials on April 16 when they had inspected a premises where Rs 1.48 crore in cash was stashed.

The cash allegedly meant for distribution among voters in Theni district, where Assembly bypolls were held on April 18. Vacation judge A D Jagadish Chandra directed the AMMK supporters to execute a bond for Rs 10,000 each with two sureties of similar amount. The four were arrested and sent to judicial custody on April 17.

He also directed them to stay in Chennai and report to police daily at 10.30 AM and 5.30 PM until further orders. The prosecution had submitted that the election officials had on April 16 gone to the office of a travel agency, where the amount was kept. When the team reached the spot, they found the office closed.

However, they noticed some packets when they peeped through a window. Soon around 150 people, including the accused, came there, attacked them and tried to take away the money. Police then fired in the air to disperse the crowd, after which the officials broke open the door and seized the cash from the office. Following this, a case was registered against the accused. Counsel for the petitioners contended that his clients are innocent and that they were implicated in the case as they were from the TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).

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