Tamil Nadu shopkeeper refuses to sell snacks to SC children, held  

TENKASI: Two people, including a shopkeeper, of Panjakulam village near Sankarankoil in Tenkasi district were arrested under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Saturday after a video clip of the retailer denying snacks to a few schoolchildren belonging to Scheduled Caste community went viral on social media. According to sources, the video clip purportedly shows the owner telling the children that it has been decided that none from their street will be provided goods.

The man also allegedly told the children to inform their parents that he can’t give them anything because of a restriction (imposed by the community).According to sources, people from Yadhava and SC communities living in the village got into a dispute regarding a land issue in 2020. Members of both the communities filed cases against each other.

Recently, K Ramakrishnan, a Yadhava man, got selected for an army job under Agniveer scheme. But he could not join because of the case against him. To resolve the issue, upper caste members requested the SC members to withdraw the case but the demand was rejected.  

A few days ago, Ramakrishnan’s family members called for a meeting in which some members of his community took part and a decision was taken to not sell goods to people belonging to SC community, sources said.  

“We have identified the person speaking in the video. When we tried to arrest him on Friday, he went underground. But we arrested him on Saturday,” said Tenkasi Superintendent of Police R Krishnaraj. 
According to sources, the shop owner identified as S Maheshwaran is also the chief of the local Yadhava community. “Moorthi, another person involved in the issue, has also been arrested. Investigation is on,” police sources said.

Tenkasi Collector P Akash said, “The shop of the accused has been temporarily sealed by tahsildhar. The Karivalamvanthanallur police have registered a case against under Section 153A of the IPC (provocation with intent to cause riot) against the accused and arrested them.”