Around 50 men, women and children of Thummanaickenpatti village on Monday petitioned Collector L. Subramanian alleging that Muslims in the village were subjected to frequent trouble by a group of sand smugglers. The petitioners alleged that they were being troubled as they opposed illegal mining of sand by the group, belonging to another community in the village, and the quarrying was depleting the water sources.
J. Mohammed Sidhik Ali, one of the petitioners, said that a week ago children from their community going to the middle school in the village were allegedly stopped and harassed by the group. He said that a case had been registered in Peraiyur police station in this regard. He claimed that ever since the incident, the children had stopped going to school.
However, a revenue official from Peraiyur taluk said that the issue between the two communities, equal in numbers in the village, broke out over a land adjacent to a closely located mosque and temple.
Acknowledging that sand smuggling was an issue around the village, the official, however, said that it was not the primary issue. He added that stringent action was being taken against smuggling and 46 cases had been filed in the last couple of months. A police official from Peraiyur sub-division also endorsed his statement.
The Collector assured the petitioners that the district police would be asked to take stringent action and suggested that the petitioners’ children be sent to school.
