A late night attack unleashed by a gang carrying lethal weapons on youth of other caste in three hamlets near Nanguneri on Monday has triggered tension as one of the victims died on the spot while the other one is battling for life in hospital.
As witnesses to these attacks have told the police that the gang, while leaving one of the spots, were shouting that they would murder anyone belonging to the victim’s caste, residents say that the Nanguneri would not be calm unless the police take action against the murderers.
The police said A. Selvakumar, 29, a construction worker of Kothaiseri near Ervadi was murdered when he was sitting in front of the village temple. Only after the police arrived at the spot to send the body for post mortem, they came to know that the gang had targeted another Selvakumar of nearby Ilanthapur. As the gang descended in front of his house, Selvakumar escaped. The gang ransacked his house and went to nearby Perumpaththu where they hacked DMK cadre Kamaraj before murdering Selvakumar of Kothaiseri.
Kamaraj has been admitted to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital. His condition is said to be “critical.”
When the police led by Superintendent of Police P. Ve. Arunshakthikumar entered the village, the villagers stopped them from retrieving the body saying that the attacks were meant to trigger unrest in the region. Though the police pacified them and retrieved the body, relatives of the victims and the injured blocked Nanguneri – Ervadi Road on Tuesday demanding arrest of the culprits, who were picked up in the evening at Srivaikundam.
Since the murder and the attempt to murder had caste overtones, members of a caste outfit, belonging to the caste of the victims, came to the Collectorate to submit petition seeking action against the culprits. When the police prevented them, they announced that they would not accept the body as the police were biased and they would take a final decision after discussing the issue with the members of caste associations.