Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) professor and economist A. Kalaiyarasan was taken from his home by police in the early hours of October 28, in what police later called a case of mistaken identity. In a formal complaint filed with the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police, Kalaiyarasan stated that he was picked up at 5 a.m. by officers who arrived in a private vehicle, alleged that he was treated like a criminal and had his mobile phone confiscated, and was returned to his residence after being held for approximately two hours.

Source: Mirror Now

According to the account of his complaint cited by The Indian Express, three plainclothes policemen arrived at his Adyar home at about 5 a.m., took his phone and placed him in a rented car travelling towards the T4 Sankar Nagar police station in Pammal, in connection with an allegedly abusive Instagram comment targeting Pallavaram TVK MLA J. Kamatchi. The account, displayed under the name Vijaya Manikandan and the handle @youvijayamani, carried Kalaiyarasan's photograph. Kalaiyarasan told the officers he did not have an Instagram account and had no connection with the account under investigation, and said he was taken away in his nightclothes without being given an opportunity to inform his family or shown a copy of the complaint or an FIR.

Source: The Indian Express reporting via UrbanAcres

Police admit fault; minister calls it a mistake

A senior officer said officers had used a Google reverse image search to identify the person whose face appeared on the account, and checked only later whether the account actually belonged to him. "Our officers were at fault," an officer told The Indian Express. After Kalaiyarasan was allowed a few minutes with his phone following repeated requests, friends alerted senior police officials after 7 a.m.; the team was traced near Chennai International Airport, a roadside wait of about 45 minutes followed in Pallavaram, and he was then returned home, where he said he was required to provide a written denial of any connection with the account and his phone was returned. He suspected his photograph had been taken from a Harvard University website, where he had been a research affiliate.

Minister C.T. Nirmal Kumar, quoted by ANI, said it was a mistake from the local station, that the professor was let go after the enquiry and that he and other ministers had spoken to Kalaiyarasan. NDTV reported that the state's Law Minister apologised, calling it a mistake, and that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay met the professor amid the fallout.

Source: ANI via The Daily Jagran; NDTV Tamil Nadu Brief

Stalin and Left leaders demand inquiry and apology

On Thursday, former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin condemned the detention, described it in his remarks as an illegal act and demanded a public apology from Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay. Stalin alleged that the professor may have been targeted for his academic work or his recent public commentary on inflation — an allegation political in nature, which the reports do not independently establish, and which police have countered by saying the Pammal station personnel did not know about Kalaiyarasan, his book or his academic work before the incident. CPM functionary and MP S. Venkatesan also condemned the police conduct, criticised authorities for entering a researcher's home without proper documentation, and both leaders called for a comprehensive inquiry and stringent legal action against those responsible.

MIDS Director M. Suresh Babu said the institute had learnt of the incident involving a faculty member and was concerned about the hardship caused, and hoped the offenders would be booked at the earliest. What happens next rests on the professor's complaint to the DGP: the reports do not identify a completed departmental inquiry, do not say whether any officer has faced action, and do not say who operated the Instagram account that carried his photograph.