Tamil Nadu police detained Madras Institute of Development Studies Assistant Professor A Kalaiyarasan over an allegedly abusive Instagram comment targeting TVK MLA J Kamatchi, but released him after finding that his photograph had been used to create a fake account.The action drew criticism from DMK president MK Stalin, who on Thursday described Kalaiyarasan's early morning detention as the "peak of fascism" and demanded an unconditional apology from the police and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.Kalaiyarasan was picked up from his Chennai residence early on Wednesday over the comment allegedly aimed at the Pallavaram legislator. He returned home three hours later after the police confirmed that the Instagram account did not belong to him.In a statement, Stalin said plainclothes police officers had picked up Kalaiyarasan at dawn, taken him away in a hired vehicle and seized his mobile phone without following proper procedure.

He alleged that the economist had been targeted for exposing unprecedented price rises under the current administration. Stalin said Kalaiyarasan was a respected academic with a PhD in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a co-author of The Dravidian Model, published by Cambridge University Press.

He also cited the professor's work as a former member of the Union Planning Commission's team, a contributor to the Tamil Nadu economic survey and a current member of the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Governing Council.Rejecting the police claim that the detention resulted from a mistaken identity, Stalin said: "It is impossible to believe that they arrested him without knowing his identity. Intimidating educators while letting actual criminals walk free is a massive disgrace." In a post on X, Stalin accused the TVK government of "mimicking" the BJP's methods. "They are proving to be worse than the BJP when it comes to fascism.

Does this high-handedness take place with the Chief Minister's approval and the permission of top officials?" he asked. Stalin said Kalaiyarasan did not belong to any political party and had also freely criticised the previous administration.... #DravidianModel : ... ! (MIDS) , , . , . . .

JNU- . "The Dravidian Model" . . . , . . , , , . , ? . ? Dravidian Model , ? ... , ? ... . , . ... . ? . , . , ... , . , ? ? , , ... . , !— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) October 29, 2026CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam also condemned what he called the "police harassment of Professor Kalaiyarasan" and sought an inquiry into who created the social media account, posted the comment and filed the complaint.

He also asked why the police acted without following proper inquiry procedures and who directed them to do so."The manner, reason, and timing of detaining such an individual, along with the behaviour of the police, indicated that this action was carried out solely with the intent to threaten and intimidate him over an Instagram post. Therefore, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) urges the Tamil Nadu government to initiate a proper inquiry into this matter," Shanmugam said in a statement.In a complaint to the Director General of Police, Kalaiyarasan said officers took his mobile phone and told him that he was being taken to the T4 Sankar Nagar Police Station in Pammal for an enquiry into a social media post.

They did not provide a document authorising the enquiry or a copy of the FIR, according to news agency PTI."They just alleged that I had posted an abusive comment against Pallavaram TVK MLA J Kamatchi from an Instagram account which I have no idea of. I do not know that MLA nor her social media accounts either.

In fact, I had never heard of her. I tried to clarify that I didn't even have an Instagram account.

However, without listening to me, they took me out in a rented car parked outside my house and drove away," he said.Kalaiyarasan said the police initially did not allow him to inform his family. "After repeated requests, they allowed me to use the phone for a couple of minutes, during which I informed my friends about what was happening," he said."At Pallavaram, they parked for around 45 minutes and subsequently informed me that they had received orders to drop me back home. While returning, they showed me a screenshot of an abusive comment posted from an Instagram account.

The account has my photograph as its profile picture but had a different username, @youvijayamani, which I had no knowledge of," he said.Kalaiyarasan said the person behind the account appeared to have taken his photograph from the Harvard University website, where he had been a research affiliate. He was asked to give a written statement saying that he had no connection with the Instagram account and was then dropped at his apartment.Saying that he felt harassed and humiliated despite being a victim in the case, Kalaiyarasan asked the DGP to act against those responsible for his detention, the creation of the fake account, the derogatory comments and the damage caused to his reputation.

The DMK and CPI(M) have also sought accountability and a proper enquiry into the police action and the fake account.- Ends