CB-CID identifies three accused in Vengaivayal caste crime case, DMK’s allies demand CBI probe

Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK dispensation came under pressure from its allies to transfer a case relating to the incident of faecal matter being found in an overhead tank supply water to Scheduled Caste (SC) residents of a village in Pudukottai district after the CB-CID filed a chargesheet against three members of the same community.

Appearing before the first bench of Chief Justice K R Shriram and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy of the Madras High Court on Friday, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran said the CB-CID has concluded its probe in the matter and has identified three persons (Murali Raja, Sudarshan, and Muthukrishnan) as the accused.

Faecal matter being found in an overhead tank in a Scheduled Caste (SC) colony in Vengaivayal village in Pudukkottai district in the last week of December 2022 triggered a massive outrage in Tamil Nadu. The incident came to fore after water used by people living in the country was found to have contained faecal matter during a test prompted by frequent illness among children.

The matter was then referred to the CB-CID after it was investigated by the Pudukkottai police. The incident became a tool for opposition parties to attack the DMK government over its oft-repeated statement that the dispensation stood for social justice.

Prominent Dalit party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) on Friday asked the Madras High Court not to accept the investigation report of the Tamil Nadu police, while CPI(M) said the reason given by police that the three accused mixed faecal matter in water due to a personal rivalry with the local panchayat head wasn’t convincing enough.

“The affidavit filed by the CB-CID in the High Court says three people are accused. All of them are Dalits and it is shocking that the police claims that people who mixed faecal matter in a tank that supplies water to Dalit households are from the same community. This is not acceptable,” VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan said.

He also accused the CB-CID of implicating Dalit youths to “protect real culprits” involved in the incident. “The DMK government should come forward to transfer the case to CBI,” Thirumavalavan added.

CPI (M) state secretary P Shanmugam spoke on similar lines accusing the police of trying to close the case by blaming Dalit youths to put a lid on criticism that nothing has moved for two years. “We demand a CBI investigation into the case,” he added.