Residents of Vengaivayal staging a sit-in protest with black flags in their village on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

A cross-section of Vengaivayal villagers staged a sit-in protest for the second consecutive day on Sunday, carrying black flags and opposing the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) arraigning three persons as accused in the 2022 case in the village.

The villagers began their protest on Saturday, alleging that the three persons were being falsely implicated in the case. On the Republic Day, they intensified their protests, hoisting black flags. The sit-in demonstration was held from 9 a.m. till evening.

The case pertains to mixing of human faeces in a water tank that supplied water to Scheduled Caste residents of the village.

The protesters demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the case, and said that they would continue their protest till their demands were addressed.

To prevent outsiders from entering the village, the police had intensified vigil.

TVK president Vijay sought a Madras High Court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the case. He posted on social media that there was nothing wrong with reinvestigating a case if questions were raised over its investigation.

“In the Vengaivayal case, several concerns have been raised about persons who have been named as accused. The case should be reinvestigated without any bias to find the real culprits…,” he added.The CB-CID, which is investigating the case, had delayed filing of the charge sheet. A probe by the CBI would further delay the investigation, he said, pressing for a SIT probe.

Correction

In the report ‘Vengaivayal residents stage sit-in amid curbs’ published on Sunday, it was erroneously mentioned that the CB-CID “status report said the accused were members of the same community.” The status report had no reference to the community of the accused. Only the local residents alleged that the CB-CID had arraigned as accused members of the Scheduled Caste. The error is regretted.