On 8 June 2026, a special team of the Chennai City Cyber Crime Police travelled all the way from Chennai to Madurai to arrest YouTuber Maridhas from his residence. The arrest followed a case registered suo motu by the Cyber Crime department based on Maridhas’s allegedly critical commentary against the TVK government, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, and several state ministers.
More specifically, Maridhas was booked for sharing an altered image and making derogatory posts about Tamil Nadu Industries Minister S. Keerthana, under Sections 79 and 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.
It is noteworthy that Maridhas has been critical of the TVK government and has made several videos while also providing evidence of his accusations.
That is the official version. Now let us ask the obvious question that the TVK government would rather you didn’t: where is the same urgency when the offender happens to be on the right side of the political aisle?
The Image That Triggered a Multi-District Police Operation?
The specific trigger for Maridhas’s arrest was an AI-generated image involving Minister Keerthana. Police clarified that Maridhas was arrested in connection with the alleged circulation of an AI-generated image and defamatory remarks targeting Minister Keerthana.
BREAKING: Police clarify that YouTuber Maridhas was arrested in connection with the alleged circulation of an AI-generated image and defamatory remarks targeting Minister Keerthana. pic.twitter.com/rMdVcfHzlr
— Actor Vijay Team (@ActorVijayTeam) June 8, 2026
The image itself, showing the minister seated with a person standing beside her, was not inherently obscene. The controversy, critics argue, lay in the accompanying text Maridhas posted questioning the identity of the individual in the image and their relationship with the minister.
If Maridhas merely shared something already viral on social media, rather than generating it himself, the proportionality of a dramatic multi-district arrest becomes far harder to justify. Instead of summoning him for questioning, the police went straight to custody.
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held, in a long line of directives, that arrest should be the last resort – warranted only where there is a genuine risk of the accused fleeing or destroying evidence.
Was a political commentator with a fixed address and a known public profile either of those things? The TVK government apparently thought so.
Sexist Abuser Mukthar Ahmed: Still at Large
Now turn to YouTuber Mukthar Ahmed. Mukthar Ahmed, previously known for his role at Sathiyam News, conducted an interview with Tiruchi Suriya Siva and during which the discussion quickly degenerated into inappropriate and double-entendre remarks about a BJP member.
A few days ago, BJP functionary and former national motorcycle racer Alisha Abdullah filed a criminal complaint against YouTuber Mukhtar and Tiruchi Surya Siva for posting a derogatory video that allegedly abused her and made defamatory remarks about her newborn twin children. The YouTube podcast, uploaded on Mukhtar’s “MY INDIA 24×7” channel, contained highly objectionable content including obscene language, questions about the paternity of her twins, and false allegations linking her to former BJP leader Annamalai to tarnish her reputation.
Alisha Abdullah பொது தளத்தில் குடும்ப புகைப்படத்தை போட கூடாது போட்டால் கேவலமாக பதிவிடுவார்கள் என்று சொல்லிட்டு இந்த தாய்லீ அசிங்கமாக பேசுகிறான்…
இவனுடைய குடும்ப படத்தை இவன் வெளியிட்டார் ஆனால் இவனது குழந்தையை பற்றி யாரும் தவறாக பேசவில்லை ஏன் என்றால் அவர்களுக்கு தெரியும் அந்த… pic.twitter.com/SvOlgKPqPo
— Surendar (@ScorpionSu58042) June 8, 2026
Alisha Abdullah submitted her complaint to Neelankarai Police Station in Chennai on 3 June 2026 and also approached the Chennai Police Commissioner for action. Following the complaint, Tiruchi Surya Siva was arrested by Chennai Cyber Crime police on 4 June 2026, while Mukhtar has been absconding, with police actively hunting for him.
“எப்படி இந்த மாதிரி பேசுறீங்க” Pressmeet-ல் அழுத அலிஷா | Alisha Abdullah#abpnadu #pressmeet #alishaabdullah #tnnews pic.twitter.com/3uSblUNxI1
— ABP Nadu (@abpnadu) June 4, 2026
In several of his videos, Mukhtar has indulged in derogating women, he even spoke extremely derogatorily about actor Trisha who is CM Vijay’s close friend and alleged partner.
That is not all. As documented and discussed widely on social media, Mukthar has made several explicit statements to the effect that women associated with TVK were no better than prostitutes. He produced content objectifying women in the film industry. He even created videos with thumbnails depicting Tamil Nadu’s sitting Chief Minister in a deeply degrading manner – content that no other YouTube channel, not even the most strident critics of Vijay, dared to publish in that form.
Inside information i have received, Mukhtar will not be arrested..
Is it done on purpose?? Who is behind this ??So such Men can speak about any and everyone and just be let off ??
This picture is a small example to what extent he can go to !
Let the government decide if… pic.twitter.com/TrhB7o9MUd
— Dr. Alisha Abdullah (@alishaabdullah) June 5, 2026
The result of all this? As of the time of writing, Mukthar Ahmed has not been arrested.
TVK = DMK 2.0, With a Film Star at the Top
Before coming to power, CM Vijay spoke passionately about freedom of expression and condemned the arrest of those who voiced against the government. That was then. Now, Maridhas was picked up from his residence and brought to Chennai for further interrogation after a suo motu case registered not on a woman’s complaint, but by the state machinery itself. That he was released after the whole drama is another thing – the point in question is his arrest.
The TVK government came to power promising a break from the authoritarian patterns of the DMK. Within weeks of assuming office, it has replicated the DMK’s most criticised tactic: using the police and Cyber Crime wing as a political instrument against inconvenient voices.
Under the DMK, YouTubers like Savukku Shankar were hounded across multiple FIRs, detained under the Goondas Act, and dragged through courts for years. The aesthetics have changed. The playbook has not.
The question before the public is no longer whether Maridhas crossed a line or whether Mukthar Ahmed’s remarks were offensive. The question is why the full machinery of the State can travel across districts to arrest a government critic over an allegedly defamatory post, while a YouTuber accused of repeatedly degrading women, targeting a mother and her newborn children, and publishing content that even many political partisans found indefensible appears to face no comparable urgency.
If criticism of ministers invites swift police action but misogyny, vulgar abuse, and character assassination are met with delay and hesitation, then the issue is not law enforcement, it is selective enforcement. The TVK government came to power promising to be different from the DMK.
What the TVK is doing is, it is reinforcing the growing perception that its much-promised political change risks looking increasingly like DMK 2.0, with a different face at the top.
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