TIRUNELVELI: Over a month after the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ordered police to file a case against VV Minerals owner S Vaikundarajan and four others, the Palayamkottai police have booked them under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 2015. Though the order was issued on February 22, the case was registered only on April 13. Refusing the allegations raised, Vaikundarajan told TNIE he possessed CCTV footage to prove that he did not abuse the complainant on caste lines on the date mentioned in the complaint.
The complainant, Vigneswaran, claimed he had gone to a place near Tirunelveli south bypass road on October 6, 2020, upon hearing that Vaikundarajan's workers were digging up a parcel of land using an earthmover.
"When I tried to stop them, the workers said VV Minerals owner would arrive there soon and I could speak with him directly. Soon, Vaikundarajan came and enquired about my name and caste. He used indecent words on caste lines to insult me, before asking me to leave. I did not lodge a complaint immediately due to fear. On October 10, 2020, I filed a complaint at Palayamkottai station," read the case report, quoting Vigneswaran. A petition was later filed at the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court regarding the incident, and the court directed the police to register a case.
When contacted, Vaikundarajan told TNIE that he had solid evidence to prove that the complaint is false. "It is true that I visited the place in question on October 6, 2020. However, Vigneswaran never came there. I have CCTV footage to prove this. When he tried to file a complaint on October 10, I was in Andhra Pradesh, and the next day itself I lodged a complaint against the then Palayamkottai station inspector for accepting a false complaint against me," he added. Vaikundarajan had also filed a counter-petition to the initial petition filed against him in the court.
"The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court had directed police to register an FIR in the case. The investigative officer will later submit the final case report to the court, and it will have all the proofs regarding the alleged incident," he added.