More than two weeks after the the Vengavayal caste crime came to light, where a water tank used by Dalit families was contaminated with human excreta, the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) transferred the probe to the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Saturday, January 14. The decision was announced a day after filmmaker Pa Ranjith alleged that the police officers investigating the case were forcing the victims to confess that they themselves had contaminated the water tank.
The incident came to light after five Dalit children of Vengavayal village in Pudukkottai district fell ill and were hospitalised on December 24. When doctors alerted the villagers to possible contamination of the water, local residents inspected the common water tank and found that it was contaminated with human excreta. Chief Minister MK Stalin spoke about the incident in the Assembly on January 11, describing it as reprehensible and disgraceful.
CM Stalin said that based on his directions, the Pudukkottai district collector and Superintendent of Police (SP) had inspected the village. He said a special investigation team was formed under the SP, and police had questioned around 70 people in the village and the culprits would be arrested soon. However, activists have contradicted these claims, and alleged insufficient action and harassment by police officers.
Earlier in December, soon after the incident came to light, Pudukkottai district collector and SP visited the village and found that caste discrimination was blatantly practised in various ways. A case was filed in Vellanur police station under The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against unidentified persons over the water tank incident.
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