DMK chief M Karunanidhi today asked his party lawyers to take legal steps to secure the release of Tamil Nadu labourers in Andhra Pradesh prisons arrested on charges of red sander smuggling.
Referring to kin of those arrested seeking help from party treasurer M K Stalin during his "Namakku Name" (we for ourselves) tour programme, he said the Tamil Nadu government thought that their work was over with writing a letter to their counterparts of the neighbouring state on the matter.
On October 15 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had urged her Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu to arrange for legal assistance to Tamil prisoners jailed in that state in connection with "alleged forest related offences".
As on October 13, 2015, a total of 516 persons were undergoing incarceration in Andhra Pradesh jails and most of them were "poor illiterate tribals and labourers hired by contractors", she had said in a letter to Naidu.
"All those (arrested) Tamils are languishing in jails there without any enquiry," Karunanidhi said in a statement here.
"When Tamil Nadu government has not taken any steps for their release, party lawyers should intervene and must immediately make efforts for securing their release," he said.
