VILLUPURAM: The son of a panchayat president on Saturday allegedly assaulted men from his village for exposing to media his family’s involvement in sand mining at Meenambur near Gingee. The incident was recorded by a few local reporters who visited the village to interview the whistleblowers.
In the 26-second clip that went viral, president Munvar Basha’s son M Liyakath Ali and his four aides are seen dragging the residents out of a car and beating them up. They also threatened the villagers and screamed in Hindi, “We’ll kill you.”
On Friday night, posters declaring Basha’s involvement in sand mining were pasted on walls of houses in the village and the collectorate complex here. They read, “Tamil Nadu government must take action against Meenambur panchayat president and his family, for illegally mining sand in the village lake area. The sand in the lake is being stolen, and the district collector, Gingee tahsildar and block development officer are not taking any action.” A few mobile numbers were also printed on these posters.
A local reporter who recorded the incident said on condition of anonymity, “We called the numbers and they asked us to visit the village. While we were trying to film their interview, Ali and his gang came to the spot. They threatened us not to flash the news and then started beating the residents.” SP Shreenatha told TNIE that both sides filed cases and Ali was remanded in judicial custody.