ADGP held, MLA under lens in TN for teenager's abduction after brother's ‘self-respect' marriage

While the high court ordered the arrest of ADGP Jayaram, an Indian Police Service officer, for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping case, Jagan Moorthy was asked to appear before the police for investigation.
The alleged involvement of ADGP H.M. Jayaram came to light on 16 June when the Tiruvallur Police revealed it before the high court during a hearing on an anticipatory bail petition of MLA 'Poovai' M. Jagan Moorthy, leader of Dalit outfit Puratchi Bharatham. He represents the Kilvaithinakuppam (SC) constituency in Vellore district.
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Police have arrested an Additional Director General of Police based on a Madras High Court order Monday in connection with an 18-year-old's kidnapping case in which an MLA is also a suspect.
According to the Tiruvallur district police, the case was filed based on a complaint from a person named Lakshmi against a group of people in Theni for allegedly kidnapping her 18-year-old son on 6 May, 2025.
On Saturday evening, a police team from Tiruvallur district had arrived at Jagan Moorthy's residence in Poonamallee to investigate him.
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A marriage without parental consent followed by kidnapping
In May, Lakshmi's elder son Dhanush (22), who works in a private company in Chennai, married Vijaya Sri (21) against the wishes of her parents. When her family got to know about their marriage, they went on to search for them. After failing to find the couple, a group of people went to Dhanush's house and kidnapped his younger brother, police said.
Based on Lakshmi's complaint, police arrested five people, including the woman's father Vanaraja, their relatives Manikandan and Ganesan; and Puratchi Bharatham party member and advocate Sarathkumar, and constable Maheshwari, who has been removed from service in a separate case.
Police said the party advocate and the former police constable confessed to the crime.
'Involvement' of ADGP, MLA
A senior official in the Tiruvallur Police told ThePrint that the woman's father wanted to break off the marriage as it was a 'self-respect' marriage—a form of marriage practised among Hindus in Tamil Nadu that emphasises equality and respect between partners and is conducted without traditional rituals or Brahmin priests.
The official said that the family approached Maheshwari, who sought the help of ADGP Jayaram, who in turn reached out to Jagan Moorthy to sort the issue out.
'Subsequently, the MLA used his henchman to (try and) kidnap the couple and separate them. However, as the couple was not at home, they kidnapped the boy's 18-year-old younger brother, who was sleeping on the terrace,' the senior official said.
However, upon learning that the police have launched a search operation to find the kidnapped youth, the gang dropped the 18-year-old back at his house.
'This is where the involvement of ADGP comes in. Since police were searching for the boy and the kidnappers, the ADGP had helped the gang by giving his official car to drop the boy back to avoid police checking. Inquiries have revealed that the girl's father Vanaraja and the former police constable Maheshwari too travelled in the official car used by ADGP,' the senior police official told ThePrint.
The high court heard the MLA's anticipatory bail petition Monday, when both the accused appeared before the court. Justice P. Velmurugan ordered the police to arrest Jayaram, while also ordering Jagan Moorthy to appear before the police for further investigation into the case.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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