COIMBATORE: Anaimalai police on Friday registered a case against seven persons in connection with the dumping of medical waste from Kerala in a village near Pollachi.
Police took action after a group of villagers from Marappagoundanur near Anaimalai detained three trucks that were carrying medical waste from Kerala to dump there on Thursday. Police booked seven Kerala natives, including the landowner, under the Sections 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 278 (Making atmosphere noxious to health) of the IPC and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act for their alleged illegal dumping of medical waste within the Tamil Nadu border. They have been called for an investigation, said police.
The persons were identified as A Saju Antony, the landowner from Koondoor in Thrissur, managers of the land Thangachan from Idukki, Suresh from Thrissur, Vinoth from Gopalapuram who brought the waste from Kerala and the drivers KT Jonny, NS Vinesh and KV Ratheesh from Thrissur. They have been not yet been arrested. The investigation is underway, said police sources.
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One earth-mover, three trucks and three bikes were seized from the site at which the incident occurred.
Concerned by the foul smell emanating from a piece of private land in Marappagoundanur, members of the public caught three trucks allegedly waiting to unload medical waste from a private hospital in Thrissur. The family which owns the hospital bought the land in Tamil Nadu allegedly to bury their medical waste.
As the workers and drivers managed to escape, the people seized the trucks and handed them over to the revenue department for further investigation. The vehicles were taken to the Anaimalai Tahsildar office and the village administrative officer A S Karthikeyan lodged a complaint at Anaimalai police station on Thursday against those involved in the issue. Following that, police registered a case and began their investigations, said sources.
Meanwhile, based on the district police superintendent's order, police have intensified checking at the state border crossings from Friday.