On July 29, 2001, a month after former Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi was arrested at midnight by police, who forcibly entered his Oliver Road house (since sold) in Chennai, the DMK general council passed a resolution to take out a rally on August 12, to condemn the police atrocities during the operation.
On the appointed day, the rally commenced at Little Mount in Saidapet. It was to proceed via Cathedral Road to Kamaraj Salai and end on the sands of the Marina beach where Karunanidhi was to address a meeting at the Seerani Arangam (since demolished).
Trouble began quite early in the evening. The cadres raised slogans critical of then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Chennai Police Commissioner K Muthukaruppan. As the rally wound its way, it turned violent near the DGP’s Office. Police resorted to a lathicharge. Journalists were also physically attacked by the men in khaki and their camera equipment broken.
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Soon there was a clash and arson. “Four police vehicles, a bus, a jeep and two motorcycles, were set ablaze by DMK cadres. Five journalists, including The Hindu photographer, Mr. M. Moorthy, eight policemen, and about 15 DMK volunteers were admitted to hospital,” according to a report from The Hindu Archives.
The police opened fire at the crowd killing five DMK cadres [In all, six people had died.] The Marina front resembled a war zone. Karunanidhi, sensing the situation was getting out of hand, wound up his address and appealed to the cadres to leave safely.
Andhra Pradesh Governor C Ranagarajan, who was holding additional charge as Tamil Nadu Governor, flew down from Hyderabad the following day. Karunanidhi met him at Raj Bhavan (now Lok Bhavan) and submitted a memorandum saying the State had been witnessing “a reign of terror” for the past three months and on Sunday “all forms of force conceivable to human kind were unleashed” on DMK men and the media. “We had already informed Your Excellency of the diabolic design of the ruling AIADMK to disturb our rally and unleash violence on our cadre on August 11,” he said in a three-page memorandum.
A day after the firing, video footage emerged which showed a clash had taken place between the DMK cadres and some inhabitants of Ayodhyakuppan near the Marina. Some men wearing headgear and holding sickles were seen targetting the DMK cadre and video also showed scenes of the arson.
Karunanidhi told journalists the party had evidence to show streetlights went off near the DGP’s office and, taking advantage of the “darkness”, the police opened fire, aside from resorting to a lathicharge and firing tear-gas shells. “AIADMK rowdy elements” from Ayodhyakuppam went on the rampage, attacking the DMK men with knives and sickles, he charged. “All the DMK men in hospital had sustained stab injuries,” he said, asserting DMK men would not have attacked one another and it was only the handiwork of enemies.
The police firing and attack on journalists had triggered widespread political outrage. Jayalalithaa constituted a one-man Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Bhaktavatsalam, a retired Madras High Court judge, to probe the incidents.
A year later, the Commission gave the police a clean chit saying the firing was justified. “The use of force by the police on the procession (on August 12) was the minimum required and justified,” the Commission said, in its report tabled in the Assembly.
According to the Commission, a section of the processionists, while passing through Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, between 7 and 7.15 p.m., tried to “forcibly enter into the DGP’s office complex and committed arson, setting fire to a vehicle parked inside. As it could have set the DGP’s office complex itself afire, the police used water-cannons to disperse the mob.”
An archival report, citing the Commission’s report said, the police then burst tear-gas shells. The enraged mob started entering the DGP office complex and caused bleeding injuries to police personnel with aruval and casuarina sticks. Almost simultaneously, four members of the procession scaled the northern compound of the office and set fire to three two-wheelers parked inside. Eight persons who attacked the police and set fire to police vehicles were apprehended.
“Observing that their colleagues were being apprehended by the police personnel, the rest of the members of the unlawful assembly were greatly enraged” and, shouting that the DGP office should be set on fire, they surged towards the complex. The Commission’s report said, as the police lathicharge could not contain the mob, constable Sivakumar, after giving necessary warnings, opened, in all, seven rounds of fire, killing two processionists—Solai Perumal Murugesan and Selva Ramesh Kumar—and injuring another person (at that spot).
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The violent mob, on nearing Vivekanandar Illam, attempted to snatch a pistol from the Assistant Commissioner, Balasubramaniam, and attacked the Deputy Commissioner, Varadaraju. “Therefore, to scare away the violent mob, Mr. Varadaraju fired one round from his pistol. As the crowd became more violent, another Assistant Commissioner, D Kumar, ordered firing in which four persons were injured,” it said.
As for the violence near Ayodhyakuppam – behind which Karunanidhi had alleged a conspiracy by the ruling AIADMK – the Commission said when the processionists proceeded towards Seerani Arangam on the Marina, some of them threw stones, causing bleeding injuries to spectators from Ayodhyakuppam. “In order to retaliate”, at about 9 p.m., after the meeting was over, some of the Ayodhyakuppam people attacked the processionists, causing injuries to some of them, including A.P. Rangasamy, who died. “The death of Rangasamy is not the result of police action.” His body was found near the G.U. Pope statue.
At the same time, the Commission, dismissed the police’s claim that the DMK rally was taken out only to “create a law and order problem” for the AIADMK government so that the Centre might invoke Article 356 to dismiss it. “This argument is highly imaginary. After the Supreme Court verdict in the Bommai case, it is not easy for the Centre to invoke its powers under Article 356 as it likes,” the Commission said.
DMK MLA from Saidapet V Perumal, who was also general secretary of the party’s Labour Progressive Federation, had complained of giddiness during the rally. He was taken to the MLA Hostel where he fell in the bathroom. He died at a hospital later. The DMK men claimed he had complained of giddiness soon after he had witnessed the “police attack” on the rally and suffered a heart attack due to shock.
Published – August 12, 2026 06:30 am IST
