TENKASI: A roadside vendor on Friday lodged a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, alleging that Surandai municipality chairperson Valli Murugan and police confiscated her pushcarts, gas cylinder, and utensils for allegedly selling beef .
M Muthuselvi (41), an SC resident of Keezha Surandai, said Valli Murugan, son of Tenkasi MLA Palani Nadar, had threatened her stating he could not tolerate the sale of beef and that cows are worshipped. “I run my family with the income earned by selling beef. On April 29, Valli Murugan asked me to remove it. He said I could run a shop, but not sell beef. He said people from his community were eating at my shop and threatened to remove my stall with the aid of police if I didn’t vacate in two days,” she said.
She alleged that on May 1, Surandai SI Selvan and another cop, Kalyana Sundararaj, trespassed into her house. “They used the MLA’s name to threaten me and asked me to shift my shop near the Tasmac outlet,” she added.
Valli Murugan said that he gave her oral consent to run the stall. “The police took action against her, not the municipality. I heard that her shop was near a public pathway, and people were consuming alcohol near it. I have no connection with the seizure,” he said.
SI Selvan said Muthuselvi’s stall was removed based on intelligence wing’s input. “Her stall was creating public health issues. Meat waste polluted a nearby pond. She can appeal to the municipality and pay the penalty to retrieve the confiscated items,” he said.