Vengaivayal case: Spl Court orders DNA tests on 10 more persons

CHENNAI: A Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases Registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Pudukottai has issued an order to collect blood samples from 10 more persons to conduct DNA tests, in connection with the case relating to the mixing of human faeces in an overhead water tank that supplies water to Scheduled Caste residents in Vengaivayal village in the district, in December last year.

The order was issued based on a requisition filed by the CB-CID probing the incident.

Earlier, the court had ordered to collect blood samples from 11 persons in connection with the incident, and only three of them turned up for the DNA tests.

Two days ago, the CB-CID expedited the probe into the incident at Vengaivayal and Eraiyur villages in the Pudukottai district. Police probed the witnesses, who were present during the incident, the operator of the overhead tank, and others suspected by them.

Earlier, they had obtained statements from 147 witnesses after questioning and also allegedly found human feaces to be from a woman and two men after testing the water in the tank.

The incident of human faeces found dumped in the overhead water tank that supplies potable water to residents of Scheduled Caste families in Vengaivayal village in the district came to light in late December last year. The case was initially probed by the Pudukottai district police and subsequently transferred to the CB-CID on January 14 this year by the Director-General of Police (DGP) C Sylendra Babu and the investigation has been going on for the last four months.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the State government has issued an order to extend all the support for the one-man commission headed by Retired Judge Sathyanarayanan by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on the incident, who are scheduled to begin their probe on May 6.