Tamil Nadu: Madras HC directs CB-CID to submit report of Sangamviduthi village water tank incident

Chennai: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department (CBCID) to submit a report after completing the investigation on a case related to the mixing of cow dung in the overhead water tank at Sangamviduthi village in Pudukottai district.
The hearing was held on Wednesday before Judges R. Suresh Kumar and G. Arulmurugan.
Considering that the police have not registered an FIR in connection with the incident, the court has earlier ordered the CBCID to proceed with the investigation.
Shanmugam of Pudukottai has filed a Public Interest Litigation. He stated "There was a complaint that cow dung was mixed in an overhead tank in Sangamviduthi village on April 25. Many people who drank this water became ill. The case does not appear to be properly investigated. In Pudukottai, the two-tumbler system is still practised."
"Scheduled Caste people were not allowed to drink from the same tumblers used by those from the intermediate castes. The Scheduled Caste people were asked to sit in separate places and they were also not allowed to use common ponds and community halls", he added.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court heard this petition on May 15 and ordered the CBCID police to investigate the case. A report should also be submitted about the two-tumbler system.
On May 15, Shanmugam also demanded that the government be directed to provide adequate compensation to the villagers and eliminate all forms of caste discrimination in the district.
The case of mixing human faeces in a water tank at Vengaivayal, also in the Pudukkottai district, is yet to be closed, and another incident of water contamination by mixing cow dung was reported in Sangamviduthi village.