The bodies of the five drowned tribal workers which arrived in the respective villages on the Kalvarayan hills in Attur block in the small hours of Wednesday were buried/cremated immediately.
While four bodies were buried, the body of yet another victim was cremated.
The four ambulances carrying the five bodies of the victims – C. Murugesan (42) of Adiyanur village; C. Jayaraj (25), A. Murugesan (42), and A. Chinnapaiyan (45), all of Kirankadu, and P. Karuppannan (23) of Keelavarai arrived in their respective villages only at 3.30 a.m., due to the delay in the completion of formalities in handing over the bodies at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.
A special team of police and revenue officials, led by R. Umashankar, Inspector of Police, Vazhappadi and comprising Anantha Kumar, village administrative administrator, Kizhnadu, accompanied the ambulances.
The relatives and friends were in tears when they paid their last respects. As the bodies were in a highly decomposed position, they were straightaway taken to the burial / cremation grounds.
Mild tension prevailed when a group of members of the Tamizhaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi and Tamil Desiya Malainaadu Makkal Katchi all of a sudden staged a demonstration in front of the ambulance in Adiyanur village condemning Andhra Pradesh government for the tragic death of the five tribal workers.
They alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu government had unleashed terror against the innocent workers. They also criticised both the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government for turning a blind eye to the sufferings of the Tamil labour workers at the hands of police and forest personnel of Andhra Pradesh.
They also raised slogans demanding compensation of ₹30 lakhs to the kin of each of the victim and also Crime Branch CID probe into the tragic incident. Ponnusamy, state deputy general secretary of the Tamil Desiya Malainaadu Makkal Katchi, led the agitation. Later, at the intervention of the police and revenue authorities, they dispersed giving way to the ambulances.
Tight security arrangements were in place in the three villages and surrounding areas when the bodies arrived. Heavy posse of policemen led by two Deputy Superintendents of Police – Sooriyamoorthy (Vazhappadi sub-division) and Raju (prohibition enforcement wing) – monitored the situation.
