Environmental activist T. Mugilan alias Shanmugam, who disappeared soon after releasing a video here in February on the anti-Sterlite agitation and May 22 killings, has been brought here by the Tamil Nadu CB-CID after he was spotted at Tirupati railway station by his friend.
Mugilan, who was an employee of the Public Works Department (PWD) before he quit the job to focus on his activism, was found in the custody of Andhra Pradesh Police at the Tirupati railway station on Saturday evening. Mugilan’s friend, Shanmugham, who spotted him at the Platform 1 informed the activist’s wife Poongodi over the phone.
As videos of Mugilan being spotted at the railway station, the Tamil Nadu CB-CID which was probing his missing case contacted the Andhra Pradesh police and negotiated his handover. As agreed, Mugilan was handed over to the Tamil Nadu Police at Katpadi railway station in Vellore on Saturday night after which he was brought to Chennai in the wee hours of Sunday.
The activist, who was interrogated by the CB-CID sleuths, is likely to be produced before the Madras High Court on Monday morning. Mugilan was last spotted at the Chennai Egmore Railway station on February 15 hours after he released a video titled ‘Sterlite: Hidden Truth’ accusing two senior police officers of colluding with Sterlite to instigate violence the 100th-day protest against the Vedanta-owned company in Thoothukudi on May 22, 2018.
His family and friends filed a missing persons complaint after his disappearance and advocate Henri Tiphagne filed a habeas corpus petition at the Madras High Court. The activist’s wife Poongodi said Shanmugham called him at around 7 pm on Saturday and told her that he spotted Mugilan at the Tirupati station from his train.
“Shanmugham is a childhood friend of Mugilan and they studied together from 1st standard to 10th standard. He was travelling to Rajahmundry from Tirupati and he informed about Mugilan’s presence. Immediately we informed the CB-CID officials,” she said.
In the video that has gone viral, Mugilan is seen shouting slogans against Vedanta group and nuclear plant in Kudankulam.
