Human rights organisation People’s Watch has accused the Thoothukudi police and the district administration of misleading the courts by telling them that peace had been restored in the town after the police firing on May 22, whereas only a “semblance of peace” had been ‘enforced’ through suppression of democratic rights and foisting of cases.
In an interview after the dedication of the people’s inquest report to the victims’ families on Sunday, which marked two months since the police firing incident, Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director, People’s Watch, said 243 cases had been filed against the public, whereas not a single case had been filed against anyone from the administration.
“Though many of the victims have filed complaints, the police are summoning the complainants for enquiry instead of registering FIRs,” he said.
He alleged that the transfer of cases to the CB-CID for ‘independent’ investigation was a farce, since only five cases related to the firing had been transferred to the agency, while the remaining 238 were being dealt with by the local police.
“These cases are now being used to harass the public,” he alleged.
‘Made to shift venue’
Mr. Tiphagne also accused the Thoothukudi police and the district administration of attempting to prevent the function to dedicate the people’s inquest report to the victims from taking place.
Alleging that many speakers and the public were intimidated by the police not to attend the function, he said, “Our team that went to invite people from the affected areas were questioned in a high-handed manner.”