The report of the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry, set up by the Tamil Nadu government to probe the 2018 Thoothukudi firing, was tabled in the state Assembly on Tuesday, October 18. “The totality of the facts and circumstances would not suggest that the police had been acting in exercise of the right of private defence,” states the report. While the police and other officials had earlier claimed that the shooting was an act of self defence, the report has made diametrically opposite observations and held 17 police personnel, a District Collector and three Deputy Tahsildars responsible for the Thoothukudi firing.
The commission suggests that action should be taken against the 17 police personnel for “commission and omission, departmentally, without prejudice to launching criminal action.” The police personnel held responsible by the Commission include Inspector General (IG) Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Kapil Kumar C, Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police (SP) P Mahendran, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Lingathirumaran, Inspectors Thirumalai, Hariharan, Parthiban, Sub Inspectors Sornamani, Rennes, Constables Raja, Shankar, Sudalaikannu, Thandavamurthy, Satheesh Kumar, A Raja, M Kannan and Mathivanan.
The Commission observes that P Mahendran and Tirunelveli SP Arun Sakthi Kumar went on a ‘shooting spree’ with ace shooter Sudalaikannu, killing three people, without instructions from the IG. Arun Sakthi Kumar's name is not in the list of 17 names however it has been added in the Annexure to the report. According to the report, as many as 17 rounds were fired by the solitary shooter Sudalaikannu. “There is no material on record to show that it was only to deal with a militant crowd of protesters that the opening of fire was resorted to,” the report states. The report also alleges that both SPs left the IG and DIG — who were non-Tamilians and not aware of the topography — alone during the time of shooting.
Stating that there was total lack of coordination between the police officials within the hierarchy, the report also says that there was a “non-observance of the strategies on crowd control formulated by the Bureau of Police Research and Development in the vulnerable points along the procession route” and that there was a failure on the part of the police to gauge the mood of the protesters gathering in huge numbers. The report also pointed out that there had been a demonstrable failure on the part of the police higher ups to organise the personnel properly and to issue commands effectively.
The report points out several instances to prove the point. One is that the shooting at the instance of DIG Kapil Kumar C Saratkar and DSP Lingathirumaran was not with the knowledge of the IG. “The shooting indulged by SI Rennes, purportedly on the instructions of Inspector Thirumalai, was also not with the knowledge of the IG. This is apart from ace shooter Sudalaikannu opening fire on the instructions of IG Shailesh Kumar Yadav and DSP Lingathirumaran,” the report says, adding that the shooting by gunman Shankar on the instructions of the DIG too was without the knowledge of the IG. “Thus, there is a spectacle of the DIG, disregarding even the presence of the IG and arrogating to himself the authority to issue directions for shooting,” the report says.
The report also states that the IG failed to strategise based on the intelligence inputs that strongly suggested a likely breach of peace. It further states that after the initial shooting that took place inside the collectorate which claimed five lives, the IG ordered opening of fire outside the collectorate, apprehending violence. This firing was opened by SI Sornamani and Sudalaikannu, in which three persons sustained fatal injuries.
The report also observes that the police did not follow the cardinal rule of Police Standing Order (PSO) 703 that firing should be resorted to only when other forms of crowd dispersal do not work. PSO stipulates that firing should be selective and controlled and that the senior most officer should take note of how the crowd reacts after one or two rounds of firing and act accordingly. The police should aim low and direct fire towards the most threatening parts of the crowd. It should exercise self restraint and not act vengeful. However, police personnel who opened fire claimed that it was a direct order from a higher official, which violates PSO 703. Pointing out the fact that the police fired at protesters from their hiding places, the report says that the injuries on those who were shot indicated that the police did not adhere to the guideline that the shot should be aimed below the waist.
Ballistic reports had stated that the shooting was a long range one, which is suggestive of the fact that the police went into hiding and opened fire. The commission remarks, “Does it deserve a comment that it is a dastardly act, the commission is left to wonder.”
Further, the commission finds that there was a fundamental flaw in the precautionary measures taken by the police in imposing the prohibitory order. “The fact remains that the Superintendent of Police had failed in specifying the routes which the protestors could take to reach the venue of protest i.e., the SAV school grounds. This omission led to the consequence of the protestors violating the prohibitory order. It looks as though the authorities imposed the prohibitory order and ironically enough facilitated its violation, which ultimately resulted in the otherwise avoidable occurrence,” the report reads.
The report states that the police did not use a megaphone from atop a building to announce the opening of fire so as to reach as many protestors as possible. “There are no materials available on record to show that there had been effective use of megaphone or any amplifier in this regard,” it says. The commission says that there was no proper warning to the protesters, adding that such a warning should have been real and substantial and "not illusory or ceremonious.”
The report also says that the police had the opportunity of dissuading the protesters from proceeding towards the collectorate, but by their ineffective handling, "floundered in every vulnerable point.” According to the report, the police resorted to unprovoked shooting with full knowledge that such a course of action would result in grievous or fatal injuries to the protesters. It highlights a further instance of police excess involving “the reprehensible conduct of the police who gained entry into a private hospital and indulged in indiscriminate beating of the people there.”
The commission’s report also says that there was no intelligence failure. However, the intelligence input was not given the significance it deserved. The report also includes a list of the names of the police personnel involved in the firing, the weapons handled by them, on whose instructions the weapon was handled and the victims who suffered fatal injuries.
The commission recommends that a compensation of Rs 50 lakh be awarded to the kin of the deceased. Rs 20 lakh has already been paid. It also recommends Rs 10 lakh each to the injured; Rs 5 lakh has been paid. Justin Selva Mithesh, who succumbed to lathi charge injuries is also to be treated as one of the 13 persons who were killed. His kin must be awarded appropriate compensation and his mother must be given employment, the commission says.
The commission also holds the then District Collector N Venkatesh accountable as he did not attend the peace committee meeting, "for reasons best known to him.” It further states, “The view of this commission is that there is total inaction, lethargy, complacency and dereliction of duty on the part of District Collector.”
In 2018, residents of the coastal city of Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu had gathered peacefully to demand the shutting down of Sterlite Copper plant. The civil protest that went on for about 100 days ended in unprecedented violence and led to open firing by the police, which resulted in the death of 14 people, including that of 17-year-old Snowlin Jackson. The police fired on the protesters for two successive days on May 22 and 23, 2018. Over the two days, more than 100 people were injured. On May 22, eleven of the protesters died at the protest site, while 22-year-old Kaliyappan died the next day, when the police fired yet again. One more person succumbed to his injuries in October 2018, after undergoing prolonged treatment for his injuries.
Watch: Thoothukudi-Sterlite shooting: Top cops indicted in probe