Chennai, Oct 23 (IANS) MDMK leader Vaiko was arrested from his residence here Thursday afternoon on the charge of fomenting secessionist violence in support of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Vaiko, held from his home in northwest Chennai, had asked the central government to cut off diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka in retaliation for its military action against the LTTE.

Elsewhere in the city, dozens of lawyers blocked traffic outside the Madras High Court shouting slogans against the Congress party which had demanded the arrest of those film directors who have called for an armed separatist rebellion in Tamil Nadu to garner support for the Tamil homeland in northern Sri Lanka - Eelam.