Villagers hoist black flags

Coimbatore: Residents of Gobirasipuram village in Annur put up black flags atop their houses on Tuesday to mark their protest against police for registering cases against farmer Gopalsamy, 38, who allegedly made village assistant Muthusamy to prostrate in front of him.
Gopalsamy had visited the office of the village administrative officer at Odderpalayam village a few days ago and had a fight with village administrative office Kalaiselvi and Muthusamy. After a video of Muthusamy prostrating in front of Gopalsamy went viral on social media, Coimbatore collector G S Sameeran constituted a committee to investigate the incident. Based on the committee report, Kalaiselvi lodged a complaint against Gopalsamy for not allowing her discharge her duty. Muthusamy lodged a complaint against Gopalsamy for using caste slur against him and demanded action. Based on the complaints, two cases were registered against Gopalsamy.
Gopalsamy also lodged a complaint with Annur police claiming that he questioned the VAO as his property’s patta was transferred to his uncle’s name. Muthusamy slapped him, he said and sought action against Kalaiselvi and Muthusamy.
T Venugopal, state general secretary of Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, said that two fake FIRs were registered against Gopalsamy. “The FIRs should be cancelled immediately. Though Gopalsamy lodged a complaint, police did not register a case against the VAO and Muthusamy. Police should register a case against them,” he said.
“Without the knowledge of Gopalsamy, his uncle’s name was included in his patta. The district administration should take action against the officials who included the name in patta,” a villager said.
Vettuva gounder and kongu vellala gounder communities are dominant in Gobirasipuram village, which also has 30 scheduled castes families.TNN