AIAMDK MLAs backing its General Secretary V.K. Sasikala in the power struggle in Tamil Nadu on Friday said they were not being held hostage.

With several habeas corpus petitions filed in the Madras High Court and questions raised about the legislators, the MLAs met the media outside the resort where they are staying.

"MLAs cannot be kept hostage. Sasikala is treating us like how (late Chief Minister J.) Jayalalithaa treated us," said one of them, Murugumaran.

"We are not birds being kept in a cage," added another legislator.

They accused the DMK of spreading rumours that legislators backing Sasikala against acting Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam were being held hostage.

AIADMK spokesperson C.R. Saraswathi, who is not a legislator, also told the media that she had to switch off her mobile phone as there were lots of threatening calls.

After attending a meeting at the AIADMK headquarters on Wednesday, the pro-Sasikala MLAs were bussed to a beach resort near Chennai.

On Thursday, responding to a habeas corpus petition filed in the Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu government advocate said the legislators were free.