The tension that had engulfed Srivaikuntam and adjoining villages since Sunday night following the murder of Puthiya Tamilagam functionary M. Baskar receded to a great extent on Thursday after his relatives accepted the body and performed the final rites.
On receiving the body from Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital mortuary, the PT cadres took it to K.T. Kosalram Nagar near Srivaikuntam with police protection and buried it after the villagers paid their last respects.
Since Srivaikuntam and a few surrounding villages witnessed agitations by the relatives of the deceased and members of Dalit outfits and also sporadic violence, the district administration was forced to clamp prohibitory order on the entire taluk for three days since Wednesday.
Though no untoward incident was reported after the body was buried, the police personnel deployed in various parts of Srivaikuntam and at K.T. Kosalram Nagar have been retained to ensure peace there.
Meanwhile, the police arrested E. Ganesan (23), K. Vignesh (22), S. Paathaalam (23), all from Srivaikundam, M. Siva (24) of Perumpaththu, and S. Esakki Anand (20) of Thozhappanpannai on Thursday in connection with the murder.
Prohibitory order stays
In a statement issued on Thursday night, Collector M. Ravikumar said the prohibitory order promulgated in Srivaikundam taluk under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure had been extended up to March 9.
