Parts of Virudhunagar district bordering Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts were tense after armed mobs went on an assaulting spree in which nine persons, all Dalits, were injured.
The condition of one of the injured, P. Mayandi (40) of Poompidagai, is said to be critical.
The incidents are seen as a fallout of Tuesday’s violence near Paramakudi. At least 40 persons, all armed with lethal weapons, from Semponnerunji, Meenakshipuram and nearby villages in Tiruchuli sub-division, sneaked through the thick jungles into the nearby Dalit colonies of Anaikulam and Kulalikulam and started assaulting the local residents, Superintendent of Police Najmul Hoda, said.
K. Ramar (40) and his father Karuppan were assaulted while they were cutting firewood at Kulalikulam. At Anaikulam, they attacked Saravanan (30), Muthumari (25), Boomi (26), Vadugan (25) and Karuppaiah (50).
“Our men chased them through the jungles. We managed to nab one of them during the chase. Later, two others were apprehended,” the SP said.
Later in the evening, Mayandi of Poompidagai, who was riding a motor bike with a pillion rider Panneer (30), was “ambushed” by an armed gang along the Narikudi-Tiruppuvanam road. “The assailants had come from nearby Allinagaram (of Sivaganga district). We suspect that it could have been less of caste differences, but more of settling personal score,” Mr. Najmul Hoda said.
The border of Sivaganga district starts around four km from Poompidagai.
The bodies of two of those three murdered in Paramakudi on Tuesday – M. Malaikannan of Allinagaram and nearby V. Veeramani, Melarangiyam, both Sivaganga district – were brought to the villages amidst tight police security at around 7 p.m.
The body of M. Sivakumar was taken to Velangudi near Tiruchuli. Miscreants pelted stones at a State-run bus at Krishnankoil junction near Sattur. No one was injured, the police added.
