CHENNAI: Three days after the Tamil Nadu government tabled in the Assembly the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan committee report on the Thoothukudi police firing, TN home department on Friday suspended Assistant Commissioner Thirumalai; constable and ace shooter Sudalai Kannu; and constables Satish and Shankar. Thirumalai worked as an inspector in Thoothukudi when the firing took place on May 22, 2018, killing 13 people and injuring 102 others.
The commission held former Thoothukudi collector N Venkatesh, three tahsildars, former south zone IG Shailesh Kumar Yadav, former DIG Kapil Kumar C Saratkar, former SP P Mahendran and 14 other police personnel responsible for allowing the situation to deteriorate and permitting the police to unleash mayhem among the crowds that were protesting against the Sterlite factory in Thoothukudi.
Shailesh Kumar Yadav now works as additional director general of police in DGP office, Kapil Kumar C Saratkar as additional commissioner of police in Chennai traffic division and Mahendran as Adyar DCP.
The commission’s report was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday. TN government accepted the commission’s recommendation for departmental action against those found guilty. However, it rejected the recommendation for initiating criminal action against them.
The commission also mentions in the report that the then Thoothukudi collector N Venkatesh was irresponsible and failed to discharge his duty in a fair manner. It recommended departmental action against him as well.
‘Rajini should apologise’
Thoothukudi: Members of the Anti-Sterlite People Movement have demanded an apology from actor Rajinikanth after the Aruna Jegadeesan Commission report revealed that the actor’s remarks over the Thoothukudi firing incident were baseless. During a presser on Friday, activist Fatima Babu said the report has established beyond doubt that the police excess, unruly firing, and the faulty government apparatus on law and order were the reasons for the 13 deaths. Lambasting Rajinikanth, Fatima alleged that somebody had scripted the remarks for the actor with the aim to mislead the public and distract the media. ENS