THOOTHUKUDI: The chairman of the State government-appointed one-man commission, Aruna Jegadeesan, on Tuesday visited the houses of the gunfire victims here, as a part of the judicial probe into the police firing on anti-Sterlite protesters on May 22 that killed 13 civilians and left more than 100 injured.
Jegadeesan met the relatives of J Snowlin, one of the deceased, at her house in Lionstown and inquired about the happenings. She then visited the house of Jancy Fernando at Threspuram, who was shot dead by police on the beach road during the public march towards the SP camp office which happened at around 2.30 pm on May 22.
The retired High Court judge also went to the spot where another victim, Jancy, was killed and interacted with her relatives.
Later, she visited the house of Maniraj at Dhamodranagar, where she consoled the relatives, and inquired about the incident. She also met the relatives of Kanthaia of Cylone colony, Ranjit Kumar of Pushpanagar and Shanmugam of Masilamani Nagar. Jegadeesan asked them to register their grievances and facts before the commission. Revenue Officer Dr M Veerapan accompanied her.
The sources said the relatives of the deceased told the commission that police questioned those persons whose photos appeared in the newspapers and video footage during the media interactions.
They also accused the police of threatening them of cases, if they did not share with them the version of information that was given to the media.
Meanwhile, when the commission entered Threspuram, her escort police force was withdrawn following an order disallowing police vehicles into the area to ease the public tension. Moreover, the TV channels’ vehicles covering the Jegadeesan’s visit was also asked to stop broadcasting following family members request. In order to protect the privacy of the victims interacting with the commission, the pressmen stopped relaying the visit.