A meeting was organised at the district police office here on Monday in which senior officers solicited cooperation from representatives of Thevar organisations in maintenance of law and order.
Superintendent of Police V. Balakrishnan; Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, Madurai City) R. Thirunavukarasu, and Dharmapuri SP Asra Garg (former Madurai SP who is camping here on bandobust duty) were present. B.T. Kumar and T. Harappa among others from the Thevar Samudhaya Kootamaippu, a federation of Thevar organisations, participated in the meeting.
The Thevar organisations were agitated over the October-30 incident near Puliyankulam near Madurai, in which petrol bombs were thrown by an unidentified gang on a car with 20 passengers who were returning after paying homage at the Thevar memorial in Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district. Tension prevailed on Sunday when bodies of three youth, admitted with burn injuries, were taken for cremation amid tight security from the Government Rajaji Hospital to the village of the deceased.
At the meeting, representatives of the Thevar organisations insisted that police and revenue officials must handle in fair manner matters concerning their community members during their annual visit to the Thevar memorial at Pasumpon. “Despite heavy bandobust, route restrictions and police escort provided to our vehicles, the miscreants had targeted us in which three youngsters succumbed to burns. What is the guarantee that such incidents will not recur?” the participants asked.
When the police briefed them about the progress of the investigation, the representatives expressed satisfaction. But they insisted on registering case against Puthiya Tamilagam leader K. Krishnasamy for his provocative statements. The officers assured to look into it and asked them to lodge a complaint. Monetary relief handed over to family members of the victims should not be surmised that the “issue is settled,” they said.
