MIDS professor alleges police harassment over fake Instagram account

A. Kalaiyarasan is an economist and author of The Dravidian Model, published by the Cambridge University Press. He has held academic and research positions in India and abroad and writes on Tamil Nadu’s economic development and public policy.

Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) Associate Professor A. Kalaiyarasan has alleged three policemen in plain clothes took him from his Adyar residence for an inquiry into an abusive social media post without showing him a complaint or FIR. He claimed that his photograph had been misused to create a fake Instagram account.

In a complaint to the Director General of Police on Wednesday (October 28, 2026), Prof. Kalaiyarasan said the policemen arrived at his residence around 5 a.m. and took his mobile phone after confirming his identity. They told him he was required for an inquiry at T4 Sankar Nagar police station in Pammal over an allegedly abusive comment targeting Pallavaram TVK MLA J. Kamatchi.

Prof. Kalaiyarasan denied having an Instagram account or knowing the MLA. He alleged that the policemen took him away in a rented car without showing any official document or allowing him to inform his family.

After reaching Pallavaram, the policemen allegedly kept the vehicle parked by the roadside for about 45 minutes while making and receiving phone calls. They later told him they had been instructed to drop him home.

During the return journey, they showed him a screenshot of the comment posted from an Instagram account bearing his photograph but using the username @youvijayamani. Prof. Kalaiyarasan said he had no knowledge of the account and suspected that his photograph had been taken from the Harvard University website, where he had been a research affiliate.

After returning to his residence, he was asked to submit a written statement denying any connection with the account. He said he gave a letter to the T4 Sankar Nagar police inspector stating that the account was not his, following which the policemen returned his phone and dropped him home around 7.45 a.m.

Describing the incident as harassment and humiliation, Prof. Kalaiyarasan urged the DGP to take action against those responsible for the alleged unlawful detention, misuse of his photograph and publication of derogatory comments in his name. He also expressed concern that such incidents could discourage academics and members of the public from participating in political debate.

Prof. Kalaiyarasan is an economist and author of The Dravidian Model, published by the Cambridge University Press. He has held academic and research positions in India and abroad and writes on Tamil Nadu’s economic development and public policy.

Police clarified that the Instagram account carried his photograph along with abusive content targeting the MLA. Suspecting that he might have posted the comment, personnel questioned him and examined his mobile phone. After scrutiny, they concluded that he had not posted the content. Following further verification, the personnel returned his phone and dropped him home.