Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Monday said Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi's arrest in a murder case could be an act of vengeance on the part of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Karunanidhi, who had earlier welcomed the arrest as an "honest action" of police, said in Chennai that one should not forget that there had been "many personal matters" between her and Jayendra Saraswathi.

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He said, "The way the Shankaracharya has been dealt with is too much. The Prime Minister [Manmohan Singh] has said the same thing and it is also my view. We appreciated [sandalwood] smuggler Veerappan's killing and the Shankaracharya's arrest.

"But it is learnt that there are some reasons [behind the seer's arrest]. There is a streak of political background and vengeance in Jayalalithaa's action. Answers to a number of doubts in both the cases have not come."

Asked about the contradictions in this statement, Karunanidhi said, "I gave my views soon after the arrest. But on the basis of the details subsequently available doubts have arisen."

Asked if there could be a motive behind the CM's announcement of the Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family of the murdered temple official, Sankararaman, he said the Shankaracharya was arrested two-and-a-half months after the murder.

"What happened in between? What are the reasons for the delay? They [the government] say investigations. But if one sees reports coming out now, there are doubts even in this," he said.

Asked about the Bharatiya Janata Party's agitation against the arrest, Karunanidhi said they were doing their "duty", but expressed the hope that they would not create communal problems.