Chennai, Feb 8 (IANS): Dalits of Vengaivayal panchayat in Tamil Nadu's Pudukottai district are protesting against the community members being interrogated for the second time by the CB-CID in the presence of human feces in the drinking water tank.
A total of 92 people from various castes residing in Erayur, Vengaivayal and Cauvery Nagar have been questioned by the CB-CID sleuths.
The CB-CID has called eight persons again for interrogation and questioned them on Tuesday triggering a series of protests from the locals.
The eight persons who were summoned for inquiry included Kannadasan(32), Kanagaraj (41), Muthukrishnan (22), Sudarshan (19), Muraliraja(32) who belong to the Dalit community from Vengaivayal colony. The former Overhead tank operator Shanmugham, present overhead tank operator, Kasi Viswanath and another person Chidambaram were also questioned for the second time by the CB-CID sleuths.
Human feces was found in an overhead water tank supplying drinking water to a Dalit colony in Vengaivayal panchayat on December 26.
The local police commenced the investigation and after the probe hit a dead end, the case was transferred to the CB-CID. However, the Dalit community members have complained that the CB-CID sleuths were interrogating their community members and that the possibility to frame them was high. The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) has commenced a protest against the police.
The VCK and other Dalit organisations have already demanded the case to be handed over to the CBI.
Sadasivam, a resident of the Dalit colony in Vengaivayal while speaking to IANS said, "Our community members are again called for interrogation by the CB-CID officials and we think that the police are trying to frame us in the case."
He adds, "We are the affected persons and the police is again adding insult to us by trying to frame us. We suspect the police will frame a case against us."
Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front leader Maran while speaking to media persons said, " The Dalit population here is comparatively less and the police, we suspect, is trying to frame our people in the case."