NAMAKKAL/ MADURAI:Police on Sunday arrested a DMK man and his son, an engineering college lecture, from Harur in Dharmapuri district for allegedly harbouring Yuvaraj, the main accused in the sensational murder of Dalit youth Gokulraj, police sources said.
M Thangaraj (55) of Chekkarapatti, Harur, and his son Chelian (25) were picked up from their house on Saturday by a special squad of the Namakkal district police following information that they had been shielding Yuvaraj for three days earlier this week. Sources said the duo was interrogated by the police before making the arrest.
Meanwhile, demanding a CBI investigation into the reported honour killing of Gokulraj, the Intellectual Circle for Dalit Actions (ICDA), Madurai, has charged the police with downplaying the role of the prime accused Yuvaraj, who orchestrated the murder as a brutal reminder to Dalits involved in inter-caste relationships.
Assistant professor of Madras Institute of Development Studies and a ICDA member C Lakshmanan, while releasing the fact-finding report on the killing, said there was enough evidence to prove Yuvaraj’s involvement in moral policing, and his campaign against inter-caste marriages to prevent girls from his community of Kongu Vellala Gounders marrying boys of other castes.
Yuvaraj, who gained access to address this community students in various colleges within the Kongu region, had built a network and solicited information about relationship, if any, between Dalits and Kongu Vellala girls.
“We strongly suspect Gokulraj’s friend Karthik could have infor-
med Yuvaraj about Gokul’s relationship with Swathi”, said J Balasubramanian, assistant professor from Madurai Kamaraj University
“Though details about Yuvaraj was much available, the Tiruchengode police have not been investigating into his past,” he said.