TIRUNELVELI: The Kalakkad police have registered a case against four intermediate-caste individuals, including the vice chairman of Kalakkad panchayat union council, and arrested one of them for allegedly destroying a burial ground, belonging to scheduled caste people in Kazhutharuthan Pothai, using an excavator. The accused have been identified as Y Viswasam, Kalakkad panchayat union council's vice-chairman, his son V Yovan, R Sathish and R Albert, residents of South Perumalkulam.
The complainant, M Narayanan, alleged that the accused attempted to destroy the 1.5-acre burial ground, where more than 65 people were laid to rest, on January 1, claiming that they had bought the place. He added that talks with officials did not yield any results.
"A portion of the ground was in possession of Thevanallur Pannaiyar and the remaining portion was located in a poramboke land. With the consent of Pannaiyar, we have been burying our ancestors here without any dispute for the past six decades," he said.
"When a villager, Thavamani, died on November 22, DMK member Viswasam and his accomplices destroyed our burial ground and erected a fence around the place. The next day, the officials helped us in removing the fence and burying Thavamani's body," Narayanan stated in his complaint.
Meanwhile, a case has been registered against four of the accused under Section 297 of the Indian Penal Code, 3 (1) (v) and 3 (1) (za) (A) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and 3 (1) of Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damages and Loss) Act. Yovan has been arrested.