Madurai: BJP state secretary in Tamil Nadu SG Suryah was arrested over a tweet in which he alleged that a sanitation worker died after he was forced to work in faecal water, media reports said.

Madurai district police has refuted the allegation, saying that no such incident took place in the district and Suryah was spreading fake news on social media.

The BJP has condemned the arrest accusing the state government of getting nervous over the slightest criticism and unleashing the state police to curtail free speech.

"The arrest of @BJP4TamilNadu State Secretary Thiru @SuryahSG avl is highly condemnable. His only mistake was to expose the nasty double standards of the communists, allies of DMK," State BJP president K Annamalai said on Twitter.

"Using state machinery to curtail free speech & getting jittery for the slightest criticism is unbecoming of a democratically elected leader and, indeed, are signs of an autocratic leader in the making. Drawing inspiration from autocrats, TN CM Thiru @mkstalin is turning the state into a lawless jungle. These arrests will not deter us & we will continue to be bearers of the uncomfortable truth!"  Annamalai tweeted.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar termed the arrest an "overreach" and "violation of rights".

Narenthiran Nayar, Commissioner of Police, Madurai told NDTV "There is no such local body in Madurai nor such a thing happened. We have invoked sections of IT Act and attempting to incite communal clashes".

Suryah had written a letter targeting Communist Party of India (CPI) Councillor Viswanathan, slamming him for forcing the sanitation worker from Madurai to do manual scavenging. He wrote that the worker died on the job as he developed an allergic reaction in his body, according to the NDTV report.

He slammed the CPI councillor for double standards as he forced the worker despite being aware that it is prohibited by law.

The letter was attached to his tweet by Suryah on his Twitter handle.

He also berated the Madurai MP Venkatesan for not taking any action for the incident which caused the death of a sanitation worker in his constituency.

"Your fake politics of separatism stinks worse than that cesspool, find a way to live as a human being, mate!" a rough translation of his tweet in Tamil read, according to NDTV.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar slammed the Tamil Nadu government for the arrest, calling it an "overreach" and "violation of rights".