Vengaivayal tense; 'Barred' Dalits stage protests over charge sheet in water tank case
Police post tight security at all entry points of the village
Vengaivayal incident of human faeces found dumped in the overhead water tank
TIRUCHY: A day after the CB-CID filed a chargesheet in the High Court indicting three Dalits in the case of mixing human faeces in public overhead water tank, tension gripped the Vengaivayal village in Pudukkottai as members of Scheduled Caste, who were not allowed to step out of their area for agitation, staged a series of protests in their locality on Saturday.
Massive outrage erupted across the state after reports of the mixing of human faeces at the overhead tank (OHT) at the Vengaivayal Dalit colony came to light on December 26, 2022. After an initial investigation by the local police for around a month, the probe into the case was later transferred to the CB-CID by the DGP in January 2024. The probe agency filed its chargesheet in the case on Friday.
Against such a backdrop, Dalit residents of Vengaivayal staged a protest claiming that the CB-CID had framed the victims in the case. The issue has also taken a serious political turn, with VCK, a key Dalit party ally of the ruling DMK, planning to join the protest.
The police as part of efforts to keep the situation under control posted tight security at all seven entry points and barred outsiders from entering the village.
Despite the restriction, eight VCK members, led by Pudukkottai west district secretary Karu Vellainenchan, who tried to enter the village, were arrested and let off in the evening.
Later, members of VCK, Left and Aam Admi submitted a petition to the district collector contesting the CB-CID chargesheet filed against three Dalit youth, who inspected the tank to confirm the mixing of human faeces. They also demanded the case to the CBI.
Another VCK group of 28 members was also arrested for staging a protest in the district.
Meanwhile, the CPM central committee member K Balakrishnan who spoke to media persons raised several doubts on the chargesheet and demanded a CBI probe.
He also charged that the residents, who were registering their protest in a democratic way, were being intimidated. The party condemned the police denial of permission to the residents to come out of their colony and meet the district collector to explain their stand on the issue, he said.
