PUDUKKOTTAI: Eight of the 11 suspects in the Vengaivayal water contamination case did not turn up at the Government Medical College and Hospital here on Tuesday to have their blood samples drawn for the DNA testing arranged by the CB-CID as part of its ongoing probe.
Only three, of whom two are caste Hindus and the other hails from the SC community and works with the Armed Reserve police, gave their samples for testing, CB-CID sources said. Acting on a plea by the investigative wing, Sessions Judge R Sathya of the Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases Registered under SC/ST (PoA) Act, 1989, here last week issued directions granting permission to subject the 11 suspects to DNA testing.
The Government Medical College and Hospital were directed to facilitate the procedure on the suspects on April 25. Of the 11 suspects, nine are residents of Vengaivayal. The others hail from the neighbouring villages of Iraiyur and Mutukkadu. One of the suspects who is a resident of Vengaivayal, said, “We are the complainants, not the accused; the investigation, however, has been long branding us as the accused.
They (investigators) are punishing us for bringing the incident to the limelight. We will not comply with the tests as we are not the accused." On December 26, 2022, excrement was found dumped in the village overhead tank that supplied water to the SC community residents in Vengaivayal. Meanwhile hospital sources said the collected samples will be sent to the Forensic Sciences Department and that the test results would be handed over to the CB-CID.