K Annamalai sues DMK functionary for defamation over Kallakurichi hooch tragedy

Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai on Wednesday sued Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) functionary RS Bharti for his recent remarks linking the former and his party to the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy.

Annamalai's lawyers served a legal notice to DMK Organising Secretary RS Bharti on Wednesday, seeking Rs 1 crore as damages, which the state BJP chief says would be used for constructing and operating a de-addiction centre in Karunapuram, Kallakurichi district.

In a recent press conference, RS Bharati accused Annamalai of "hatching a conspiracy" in the hooch tragedy and also claimed that the BJP was liable for the tragedy as the killer methanol was sourced from the NDA-ruled Puducherry.

"If anyone needs to resign, it's their (BJP) ministers and the chief minister of Puducherry. The police are telling us that the raw materials came from there. The BJP is liable. They have done it. I'm calling this a planned conspiracy by Annamalai. This is related to the Vikravandi election. I have doubts if it was done before the elections", the DMK leader said in the press meet, while defending the state government over the hooch tragedy.

At least 61 people died due to the consumption of spurious liquor in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. As many as 118 people received treatment at different hospitals after the hooch tragedy unfolded in Karunapuram village on June 18.