Dinamalar news editor arrested for defaming actors

CHENNAI: Sleuths of the crime branch CID of the city police in a dramatic move on Wednesday entered the office of the Tamil daily, Dinamalar, and
arrested news editor B Lenin. According to a statement issued by the commissioner of police, T Rajendran, he was arrested under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Women Harassment (prevention) Act on the basis of a complaint filed by the general secretary of the South India Film Artistes Association, Radha Ravi.

The statement said that the CCB had registered an FIR against Lenin for an article allegedly based on the statements of Bhuvaneshwari, a Kollywood actor recently held on prostitution charges. The daily had carried an defaming article about several Tamil actors and published their pictures. The office bearers of the artistes association then met the city police commissioner and lodged a complaint seeking action against the publisher.

A special police team headed by CCB deputy commissioner C Sridhar entered the premises of the daily and talked to Lenin for around 10 minutes. They later took him to a waiting auto and then to the police commissioner's office. The commissioner's statement said that he was later produced before the magistrate's court in Egmore and remanded in judicial custody.