CHENNAI: Fisheries minister D Jayakumar on Friday dubbed senior BJP leader H Raja and actor S Ve Shekher, also a member of the saffron party, ‘cyber psychos’ for their offensive posts against woman journalists on Facebook and Twitter.“These cyber psychos are a shame to Tamil Nadu ,” Jayakumar said, adding that the government was ready to take action against him. “You make a complaint, we will arrest them both,” he told reporters in Chennai.“Demeaning a woman journalist cannot be tolerated,” the minister said. “Everyone is equal for this government. I know how you [journalists] toil during calamities and other situations. That is why you are referred to as the fourth estate, the fourth pillar of democracy,” said Jayakumar. “You give a complaint. We will act,” he reiterated.Jayakumar said the two were publicity mongers. “Raja has also made derogatory remarks against the chief minister. The state government will file a defamation case against him,” the minister said.Earlier, Shekher apologised for sharing the Facebook message. After deleting the post, he said in a statement, “By mistake I forwarded (shared) a message without reading. When a friend pointed that the content was abusive, it was removed immediately.” The actor said he did not endorse the views expressed in the message. “I come from a family that respects women and women journalists. If I had hurt anyone in the very few minutes of that post, it was not on purpose and my heartfelt apology,” said Shekher.Meanwhile, several journalists, from both print and visual media, protested outside Shekher’s house in Mandaveli in the city. Some men hurled stones at his house, denting the huge posters of the actor and those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi During the course of protest, a scuffle broke out between the protesters and the police. Around 30 journalists, including several women, were arrested and later let off. Posters of Shekher were torn into pieces and thrown to the ground. The protesters shouted slogans, “We will not allow fascist voices to suppress us. We are journalists.” Police personnel rounded up the protesters and took them in a police van. They were let off after they were booked for criminal intimidation, unlawful assembly and rioting.The actor’s post came amid outrage against the governor for patting a woman journalist’s cheek during a press conference. At 3pm, journalists protested outside the BJP office, in South Boag Road , but the police cordoned off the entire street.

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