Click to play videoNew Delhi: The DMK family feud it seems is now out in the open.
A group of persons claiming to be supporters of DMK leader M K Azhagiri, who is Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s elder son, on Wednesday allegedly set fire to the Madurai office of Tamil daily Dinakaran and indulged in protests resenting a survey published by the newspaper on the possible "political heir" of Karunanidhi.
The survey had published that 70 per cent chances are that M K Stalin, the second son of the Chief Minister, would succeed Karunanidhi while Azhagiri, who controls the party cadres in Southern districts, was given two per cent chances in the opinion poll.
Fire service personnel rushed to Dinakaran office near the High Court building to douse the blaze, police said.
Three injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital but were declared dead on arrival, however, it is still not known whether the deceased were employees of the newspaper office.
Two of the victims, both computer engineers, were asphyxiated when they entered the office to save the computers from the protesters.
But both got trapped inside a room as the attackers locked it after hurling bombs, Editor of the local edition of the paper, Muthupandi said.
The remaining members of the staff, who were trapped inside the office, escaped by scaling walls and breaking windowpanes.
According to police, the supporters burnt copies of the daily at several places in Madurai and in Cumbum, Theni, Kamuthi, Bodinayakanur, Gudalur, Dindigul, Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Tuticorin in south Tamil Nadu.
Twenty-five people have been arrested following the violence, police said.
Police said volunteers started gathering since early Wednesday morning to burn bundles of the newspaper.
Supporters of Azhagiri also broke glass panels of the newspaper office in Madurai and damaged the machineries.
The survey was jointly conducted by Dinakaran and AC Nielsen.
The daily is owned by Karunanidhi's grand nephew Kalanidhi Maran, brother of Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran.
The survey had also given high ratings for Dayanidhi Maran as Union Minister vis-a-vis his Cabinet colleague Anbumani Ramadoss and this has already resulted in bad blood between the two parties.
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