Dinakaran attack case

The Dinakaran attack case was a firebomb attack on 9 May 2007 on the Madurai office of Dinakaran, a Tamil newspaper, which resulted in the deaths of three people. The attack was a response to a survey published by Dinakaran on who people preferred as the future heir of M. Karunanidhi, chief of the political party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). During mass protests throughout the region, the offices of the newspaper were firebombed and two press employees and a private security guard died. 17 people were charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation, but were all acquitted by the district court. Dayanidhi Maran resigned from the Union Cabinet, where he had been the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, as a result of the controversy surrounding the attack, which created a rift between him and DMK.

M. K. Stalin and M. K. Azhagiri, sons of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi were in a succession battle to be the political heir of Karunanidhi. In May 2007, the newspaper Dinakaran caused controversy when it published the results of a series of opinion polls conducted by A.C. Nielsen Co. which appeared to show that Stalin had more public approval than his elder brother Azhagiri – 70% of those polled preferred Stalin, while only 2% preferred Azhagiri (another 2% supported M. K. Kanimozhi, daughter of Karunanidhi). The newspaper is part of the Sun Group which is owned by Kalanidhi Maran, who is grand-nephew of Karunanidhi and brother of DMK politician and ex-Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

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