1. Ambasamudram custodial torture | IPS officer Balveer Singh booked, finally
After weeks of reluctance and after being severely criticised by civil rights activists and some allies of the ruling DMK, the Tamil Nadu police registered a case against suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police Balveer Singh on charges of torturing suspects in custody in the Ambasamudram Sub Division last month.
Mr. Singh who has been accused of uprooting the teeth of some suspects during interrogation in a few police stations and also squeezing the testicles of a couple of men has been booked by the Tirunelveli District Crime Branch under Sections 506 (1) (Criminal intimidation), 324 (voluntarily hurting by using dangerous weapon) and 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by using dangerous weapon).
In a related development, eight victims of alleged custodial torture at Ambasamudram and three of their family members appeared before IAS officer P. Amudha at the Ambasamudram Taluk Office to record their statements. Earlier, when Ms. Amudha sat for an inquiry on April 10 for the first time, none turned up to record their statement.
2. Annamalai seeks ₹500 crore plus ₹1 compensation from DMK
Hitting back at the DMK over its legal notice seeking unconditional apology and ₹500 crore in damages for his graft allegations against party president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Tamil Nadu BJP leader K. Annamalai sought ₹500 crore plus ₹1 as damages from the ruling party for making certain “baseless” allegations against him. “I wish to pay the sum to PM CARES fund, “ Annamalai added.
In a statement titled “I am ready for legal action,” uploaded on his Twitter page, the state BJP president also claimed there was ‘proof’ for alleged corruption in the Metro rail project in the earlier DMK regime and said “we are going to submit them to the CBI.” Taking a swipe at DMK Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi who had issued the legal notice, Annamalai asked him to “remain patient till (CBI) summons are issued.
3. T.N. government to get details of Pennycuick statue in UK
Tamil Nadu Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan said the State government would get details about the status of the statue of Col. John Pennycuick, who built the Mullaperiyar dam, in Camberley in the United Kingdom and inform the Assembly.
He was replying to Edappadi K. Palaniswami, the Leader of the Opposition, who said since ₹46 lakh due to Atlantus, the organisation that was installing the statue, was not paid, it had made a complaint to the London City Council. “There is a move to remove the statue,” he said.
Mr. Palaniswami said the total cost of the project was ₹92 lakh. While the state government has paid ₹26 lakh, the family of Pennycuick paid ₹20 lakh. The rest has not been paid, added the AIADMK leader.
3. Kalakshetra sexual harassment allegations | Madras HC calls for SCW inquiry report
The Madras High Court sought the result of an inquiry conducted by Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women recently into allegations of sexual harassment of students at the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts managed by the renowned Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai.
Justice M. Dhandapani who called for the Commission’s inquiry report also passed a slew of other interim orders at the instance of senior counsel R. Vaigai representing seven students.
4. Coimbatore forest fire put out after a week
After a week, the Forest Department doused the forest fire near Madukkarai in Coimbatore district completely through an overnight firefighting.
Earlier yesterday, the Indian Air Force conducted aerial firefighting using a helicopter fitted with a bambi bucket to douse the fire. The IAF team drew water from the Malampuzha dam in neighbouring Palakkad district of Kerala for the operation and more than 20,000 litres of water was dispensed.
5. Wild elephant ‘Karuppan’ captured after being elusive for nearly four months
After two unsuccessful operations in January and March, the wild elephant, nicknamed Karuppan, that was involved in frequent incidents of crop raiding and conflicts with humans in Talavadi Hills for over a year, was captured early this morning.
A radio collar with GPS was fixed on the elephant’s neck and with the help of two kumkis, Chinnathambi and Mariyappan, both from Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), the tusker was loaded onto a truck. “We are waiting for orders for translocating the captured elephant,” said Devendra Kumar Meena, District Forest Officer, Hasanur Division.
