The panchayat president from Allur here has been booked for abusing a Dalit man. Four others have also been booked for hurling casteist slurs and attempting to physically assault the man.
K. Vijendran, the panchayat president, and Prabhakaran, Manikandan, Vikram and Bharath, all residents of Allur in Jeeyapuram, had attempted to attack A. Anand, 29, a resident of the village, on several occasions.
According to the FIR, the accused had been threatening the complainant for many months. The matter came to light when Anand was returning to his residence on October 12 with his family, when the panchayat president and a few others attempted to attack him with weapons. Anand filed a complaint at the police station.
On October 2, Mr. Anand raised a few concerns with regard to the availability of certain civic amenities at the gram sabha meeting during which the panchayat president had allegedly hurled some casteist slurs. Following an altercation, the crowd dispersed. However, the panchayat president, along with the four accused, held a grudge and stopped his car while Anand and his wife were passing by to harm him on October 12, they added. While the police initially registered a community service register complaint, they registered an FIR and booked the accused on October 17, after investigation.
Along with the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the accused have been booked for rioting, unlawful use of weapons, use of profanity in public spaces and criminal intimidation.
