CUDDALORE: Mandarakuppam police on Sunday arrested eight personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on charges of fatally beating up a youth who entered the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) mine to steal iron bars and later disposed off the body.
The incident came to light after the body of the youth was found in a canal in Kolakudi village near NLC Mine-II on January 29. There were injuries on the body. The deceased was later identified as Ragu (24) of Mandarakuppam near Neyveli.
Local police registered a case and the body was sent to Government Hospital, Mundiyampakkam for post-mortem.
A team headed by Neyveli DSP Kalaiselvan questioned Ragu’s friends, who narrated what had happened on the day they had gone into the mine.
Sources said Ragu and his friends had gone to NLC Mine-II on January 28 to steal iron bars and cables. They were spotted by the CISF personnel, who caught Ragu after a chase while his friends managed to escape.
In what will be a gruesome violation if proved, the CISF personnel then allegedly thrashed Ragu to death and then dumped his body in a canal through which water from the mine is pumped out. The arrested CISF personnel were identified as Kurendra Singh (27), Ravipranav Singh (24), Ravindhar (24), Kannan (24), Devendhran (51), Santhoshkaran (35), Asaithambi (30) and Krishna Rao (27).
All the eight were arrested on Saturday midnight and lodged Cuddalore jail. However, police were not coming forward to speak to the media about the arrest.
It may be recalled that a CISF constable shot a contract worker of NLC few months ago at Mine-II.
He was arrested after public staged several protests. Now, the CISF has again come under fire for crossing the line and hiding the murder for 10 days.
Meanwhile, Union leaders and the general public on Sunday condemned the CISF for its repeated human rights violations in Neyveli and demanded its withdrawal from the NLC.
Residents of villages surrounding the NLC mines have alleged that CISF personnel threaten them frequently.
G Jagan, president of Vadakuthu village, said, “There are many complaints from the public and NLC workers against the CISF, particularly because of the language issue. The CISF personnel don’t understand what the workers are saying. Similar problems are taking place in the villages surrounding the mines. This leads to unwanted arguments between the public and CISF personnel.”
The CISF should be withdrawn and NLC’s own security force should be formed again, he added.
“Hiding a murder for 10 days clearly shows how inhuman they are. Earlier, they had shot a contract worker in front of mine-II. How could people of such kind provide security to workers and the company?,” the village president asked.
Venkatesan of the Jeeva Contract Workers Union of NLC added, “CISF was brought to the NLC to prevent thefts, but they have not been stopped. This shows CISF’s inefficiency. Around 2,000 CISF personnel are deployed in the NLC. Their sole duty is to threaten people and workers. Hence the central government should withdraw them.”