The case booked by Wallajahbad police under various sections of Indian Penal Code against a group of people of Thenneri hamlet, on charges of intimidating and attacking members of a Scheduled Tribe at Thenneri last week, has been changed to a case under the Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Collector Hanish Chhabra, in a press release issued on Sunday, said that the District Administration received a petition at the general grievance day meeting stating that the dwellings of some ST members living at Thenneri village were razed down by a group, which also threatened them to vacate the place.
Subsequently, an inquiry was ordered and a peace meeting convened. Meanwhile, a case was registered under various sections of the IPC against those accused of threatening and intimidating ST people.
This case has been altered and sections under the Prevention of Atrocities Act invoked against the culprits, the Collector said.
The Wallajahbad police said they booked a case under different sections of IPC last week against Ekambaram of Thenneri, and his son-in-law, Arun alias Abel, and 50 others, on charges of intimidating and threatening the ST people.
The complainants alleged that Ekambaram and the others, including some people from Thenneri Dalit Colony, razed down the huts built on ‘natham poromboke’ land by Punitha, a widow, and Doraisamy, both belonging to the ST community.
They also said that Ekambaram had encroached upon the ‘poromboke’ land adjacent to his property, well before Punitha’s and Doraiswamy’s families moved in there.
Keywords: Prevention of Atrocities Act
