MDMK general secretary Vaiko along with thousands of his supporters including farmers was arrested today for resorting to a road roko condemning the Kerala government, which is trying to construct a dam over Mullaperiyar.

When protestors led by the MDMK supremo who gathered at the VOC Ground in Cumbum tried to block an arterial road in the southern town, they were detained by the police, sources said.

Huge number of police personnel who were deployed to prevent any untoward incident took the agitators in vans, the sources added.

Addressing the gathering earlier, Vaiko alleged that the Union and the Kerala governments were cheating the people of Tamilnadu on the Mullaperiyar issue.

'The Supreme Court has clearly said Tamilnadu government should carry out the maintanence works of the dam. But Kerala has passed a resolution in the Assembly over the safety of the dam. This is against the Constitution of India. Why has the Centre not questioned Kerala?'

He said financial restrictions should be imposed on Kerala.

A staunch supporter of the LTTE and sympathiser of Sri Lankan Tamils, Vaiko was earlier arrested by the Q Branch CID of the Tamilnadu Police in October 2008 on charges of sedition.

The charges are based on the speeches made at a party meeting on the Sri Lankan issue in Chennai. Vaiko warned that India extending help to protect Sri Lanka’s integrity would jeopardise India’s own unity and integrity.

He reportedly said he would be ready to take up arms and fight for the Tamils in the island nation. A general alert was sounded across Tamilnadu following the arrest.