SIVAGANGA/MADURAI: The five-day road blockade staged by relatives and supporters of Akash Delison (26), who allegedly died due to custodial torture, came to an end on Thursday evening, following a direction issued by the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court.
The court had issued the direction on Thursday, after the state government informed that the CB-CID had modified the FIR registered by including murder charges and SC/ST Act provisions.
The agitation was launched on Sunday following the death of Akash, a Scheduled Caste youth from Krishnarajapuram. Manamadurai police had booked him in connection with an assault case and tried to arrest him. While trying to flee, he allegedly jumped from a railway bridge and sustained a fracture in his right leg. He was subsequently admitted to Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital, where he died on Sunday morning after allegedly complaining of breathing difficulties.
Demanding that a murder case be registered against the police personnel involved, the family members and others blocked the NH by erecting tents. The blockade forced authorities to divert buses and other vehicles through alternative routes, causing immense hardship to commuters and effectively cutting off access for residents of nearby villages.
The situation grew more complex on Thursday when a separate group gathered near the Devar statue in Manamadurai to stage a counter-protest, demanding that traffic on the highway be restored. This led to further disruption for vehicles already navigating diverted routes.
On Thursday, the high court issued an ultimatum, ordering the protesters to withdraw the blockade before 4.30 pm, with directions to the police to remove them if they don't disperse by then.
Superintendent of Police Siva Prasad and Tahsildar Krishnakumar then communicated the court's firm order to the demonstrators. Facing a large deployment of police personnel, the family and their supporters chose to dismantle the pandal and disperse.
Traffic, including buses, resumed normal movement on the four-lane highway in the evening. The group that had staged the counter-protest also dispersed after celebrating by bursting firecrackers.
Meanwhile, the Additional Advocate General M Ajmal Khan, representing the state, told the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Thursday that the FIR has been altered by the CB-CID to include Section 103 (Punishment for murder) BNSS and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST(POA) Act (Punishment for atrocities), 1989.
The state took the above decision pursuant to the directions issued by the court on Wednesday in a petition filed by Akash's father, A Rajesh Kannan, seeking a series of directions, including the above relief.
The CB-CID has filed an alteration report before the Judicial Magistrate IV of Madurai, and the investigation is proceeding on the right track in a scientific manner, Khan said. Though their demands have been fulfilled, the protestors have still not dispersed from the NH, he had informed the court.
Hearing this, Justice L Victoria Gowri observed that a protest, however justified its cause may be, cannot be permitted to transgress into an act that paralyses public movement and causes hardship to the public, and issued the above ultimatum. The case was adjourned to Friday.
