VELLORE: Tension gripped Guruvarajapet village in Sembadu panchayat in Arakkonam after a section of the Yadav and Vanniyar community attacked and damaged the houses of Arunthathiyar(Scheduled Caste) community late on Friday night. Over 10 persons were injured including a three-year-old girl belonging to the Arunthathiyar community.
The Arunthathiyar community registered a case and the police arrested 10 persons of the Yadav and Vanniyar community. Police personnel were deployed in the village to prevent anti-social elements.
There are two colonies in Guruvarajapet village - Gandhi Nagar and Arunthathiyar Colony. The Yadav and Vanniyar community reside in Gandhi Nagar and the Arunthathiyar community live in Arunthathiyar Colony. Police sources said there have been simmering tension between the two groups for the last five days after some youths of the Yadav community allegedly teased a married woman belonging to the Arunthathiyar community. The woman’s husband allegedly beat up the youths. The two groups of communities have been at loggerheads.
This came to a head on Friday night when some members from the two communities physically fought with deadly weapons and nine houses of the Arunthathiyar community were damaged. The Yadav and Vanniyar community members also damaged the street lights in the Arunthathiyar colony.
Five persons belonging to the Arunthathiyar community - Siranjivi(30), Varadhan(50), Mahesh(40), Devan(40) and Sunitha(3) - were seriously injured and admitted to the Arakkonam Government Hospital. Among the five, two persons were referred to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai and are said to be stable. In case of Yadav community, three people were admitted with minor injuries to the government hospital in the locality. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Arakkonam, Kannapan, said, “Arunthathiyar people had previous enmity with the other groups for unknown reasons. Last night, they attacked each other and houses belonging to Arunthathiyar community were attacked and damaged.”
He added that the situation has been brought under control in the village.
Vellore Range DIG R Tamil Chandran visited the village on Saturday morning and conducted an inquiry. He also spoke with people belonging to both sections.
The arrested persons were - Ayyappan, Kumar, Govindraj, Gobi, V Ramesh, Babu, Venkatesan, J Ramesh, Vijaykumar and Jayaganesh - who were remanded in Vellore Central Prison for Men. The police personnel wanted secure more than 12 persons of the Yadav community but are absconding after the scene. A case was registered in Arakkonam Taluk Police Station. To arrest the remaining alleged perpetrators, around 100 Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi cadres staged a road roko in front of Arakkonam Government Hospital.