A police team reached Windflower Resort in Puducherry on Thursday afternoon where supporters of TTV Dinakaran are staying, ANI reported. The MLAs had been put up at the resort since Tuesday to protest against the merger between the O Panneerselvam and the Edappadi Palaniswami camps of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

However, the leaders had claimed that they came to the resort to “relax and rest”, The Times of India had reported.

The rift in the AIADMK had come to the fore after the merger on Monday. Hours after the merger, 19 AIADMK MLAs who supported Dinakaran approached Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao demanding Palaniswami to be removed from his post.

P Vetrivel, a Dinakaran supporter, said they wanted Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanpal to be made the chief minister. “We never said we will vote against the government,” the MLA added.