The body of Ilavarasan was shifted at 5.30 p.m. to Government Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital for post-mortem, after the police overcame resistance and protests from his family members.
Collector R. Lilly visited the hospital in the evening. Family members, relatives and residents of Natham colony raised slogans demanding the government to book the culprits behind the death of Ilavarasan.
Railway police have registered a case of suspicious death under section 174 Cr PC on the basis of a complaint by the Village Administrative Officer. Autopsy would be conducted on Friday morning.
Prohibitory orders
As news of Ilavarasan’s death spread, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Cr.PC were clamped in the entire district. Police forces were deployed in caste-sensitive areas of Dharmapuri, Viluppuram, Cuddalore and Tiruvannamalai districts.
The Armed Reserve Police and Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) battalions were mobilised and picketing was posted in sensitive areas in the district.
Bus service suspended
TNSTC suspended bus services to remote and interior pockets of the districts in the evening as a precautionary measure.
Police sources said that over 500 police personnel were drafted for deployment across the district from Salem, Krishnagiri and Namakkal.
Three companies of TSP (including a women’s battalion) from Coimbatore and Pochampalli in Krishnagiri district were also deployed in the district.