THOOTHUKUDI: Victims and their kin whose world came crumbling down after the anti-Sterlite protest on May 22, 2018, in which over 13 persons were killed, said they are discontent with the CBI's final charge sheet in which there is no mention of charges against the police personnel who opened fire at the crowd in 2018. They urged the court to order a re-investigation into the case in order to find the culprits.
A widow of a protester killed in the police firing said the firing incident had dismantled her, leaving her family in trouble. "When an apex court cannot identify the accused who opened fire at the protesters, then what is the meaning of the investigation," the mother of two children questioned.
Another woman, seeking anonymity, said the CBI investigation is biased. "It is ironic that the country's apex investigation agency could not find even a single police personnel who shot and killed 13 persons on the spot," she said.
Meanwhile, the parents of a deceased victim said the investigations by CBI had been traumatic and agonising as it seems to justify the shootout. "The investigation agency should reveal who killed the protesters and punish them for murder," they worried.
A victim who sustained deep injuries told TNIE that the State and Central governments are responsible for finding the culprit who fired at the anti-Sterlite protesters and bringing them before the court of law.
When contacted, Anti-Sterlite Movement coordinator Fatima Babu said it is an ultimatum of the CBI to charge sheet the suspects of the police firing, who haphazardly shot at the peaceful protestors on ill-fated May 22, 2018. “It was not a controlled firing as claimed by the CBI in its final charge sheet, as there was neither a warning nor they followed the necessary protocols before the shootout, and the bullets pierced through the bodies,” she pointed out.
It's been four years and none of the policemen armed with weapons for the bandobast have been booked for murder, she said, adding that the CBI investigation had arrested protesters, who reacted to police firing, for rioting, but not the policemen for the unlawful firing.
Further, Anti-Sterlite People's Federation coordinator advocate Hariraghavan said the CBI should re-investigate the case under the supervision of the court to find the guilty involved in the firing incident which left 13 people killed on spot, and two others later.