Kancheepuram: Columnist and auditor S Gurumurthy was today (Dec 9, 20049) questioned by the special police team investigating the Sankararaman murder case in connection with a series of articles he had written in an English daily on the case.

Emerging from the special team's headquarters in Kancheepuram, he told reporters that the police were "clearly disturbed over my articles" and said his summoning was a "clear warning" to all journalists not to write anything against the police.

Gurumurthy appeared before the police responding to the summons issued by Chief Investigating Officer in the case ADSP S P Sakthivel and the enquiry lasted nearly two hours.

The writer said that in the summons police had stated that the four articles written by him in the Indian Express gave room to think that he had information to impart to the police on the murder of Sankararaman, in connection with which Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi has been arrested.

Stating that he was not a witness but only a commentator, Gurumurthy said, "Obviously, the police are disturbed over my articles. They read it out line by line and asked for the source of those lines."

Police wanted to know what more he knew about the case, Gurumurthy said adding he told them that the articles were 'self-evident' and he had nothing more to be said.

"Clearly, the police are disturbed over the articles and there is no other purpose served in questioning me," he added.

The message conveyed by the summons was that "If you write against the police, they will summon you," he said.

Gurumurthy said journalists should stand up to the "threat and must not allow themselves to be threatened. They should have backbone," he said.

Asked if he had any idea about any background to the murder and the arrest of the seer, he said he had "A nebulous idea."

To a question whether he would be required to give any statement before a court, the writer said he hoped that the police were not yet that desperate.

When asked whether police warned him not to write such articles in future, he said, "No journalist can be threatened, unless he submits to it."