Sterlite violence: Kin of victims want cops charged with murder

Tension prevailed in parts of the Thoothukudi district, where the relatives of those killed in police firing on May 22 during an agitation against the Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi refused to accept the bodies.

The families continue to demand that murder cases are registered against the police. They also want the state to establish a memorial for the deceased.

On Saturday, district collector Sandeep Nanduri reviewed the condition of those who were injured in the firing.

“Of the thirteen bodies, autopsy has been completed on seven. Six bodies have been handed over to the family members. We are holding talks with the bereaving families and the seventh body will be handed over by tomorrow” Thoothukudi district collector Sandeep Naduri told Hindustan Times. The families of the remaining seven are those refusing to take the bodies.

With a case pending before Madras high court, the other bodies are being preserved in a mortuary awaiting further orders, Nanduri added.

Earlier in the day, state information minister Kadambur Raju who had been heckled by people during his previous visit to the Thoothukudi government hospital met the injured on Saturday.

Artificial limbs have been arranged for those who lost their limbs in the violence, the minister said.

He also handed over ₹20 lakh relief provided by the state to the family of Thamizharasan, whose body was accepted by the family on Saturday.

Meanwhile members of three commissions — the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the State Human Rights commission (SHRC) and the judicial inquiry commission ordered by state — arrived in Thoothukudi to begin investigations.

SHRC members D Jayachandran and A Chittaranjan Mohandoss interacted with 56 of the injured in the Thoothukudi government hospital.

CHENNAI: