Chennai: Several political party leaders, including VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, expressed skepticism over the finding of the CB-CID that three persons from Vengaivayal village in Pudukkottai district were responsible for mixing human excreta with the water stored in the overhead tank for the consumption of their own people due to personal animosity towards others even as the State government urged people not to spread rumours on case.The incident that sent shock waves across the State in December 2022 after human feces was found in the water when the people climbed up the tank to check on it following a few incidents of children falling ill was entrusted with the CB-CID, taking into account the gravity of the crime and its social significance, an official press release said.A detailed investigation by the CB-CID revealed that a constable attached to the reserve force of the State Police, Murali Raja, had committed the crime, along with Sudarshan and Muthukrishnan, as his father Jeevanandham was humiliated at a grama sabha meeting by Muthiah, the husband of Muttukadu panchayat president Padma for raising a question over the maintenance of the water tank in October, 2022.As part of the investigation into the crime, for which the State government was sought to be blamed by the political party leaders, social activists and media, the police seized the mobile phones of the arrested persons and also a few others and retrieved data relating to call records and photographs that were deleted by the phone users that have now become evidence in the case.It was based on photographs, video evidence, audio recordings of telephone conversations, forensic reports and medical reports that the police had filed the charge sheet on January 20, an official press release said, urging the people to refrain from spreading false information relating to the case.Since the police have identified the culprits from within the same community that was affected by the dirtying of their drinking water, the immediate reaction to the police charge sheet was one of outrage. As the news of the police accusing three men belonging to the SC community of causing harm to people from their same community, political leaders came out against it and demanded a CBI enquiry into the incident.Thirumavalavan told the media in Chennai after taking part in the memorial meeting for Tamil martyrs Thalamuthu and Natrajan that the DMK government should stand for social justice and handed over the case to the CBI as the CB-CID’s finding was unacceptable.After dragging the investigations for years, blaming the victims was not fair, he said, Union Minister L Murugan also issued a statement saying that only a CBI probe would bring out the truth and that the State police could not be believed on such issues
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