Chennai, April 7
The PMK, the political arm of the influential Vanniyar community, has called for a protest to demand a CBI pobe into the suspicious death of a youth accused in an elephant poaching case in Tamil Nadu.
In a statement issued on Monday, PMK founder Dr S. Ramadoss raised serious concerns regarding the death of Senthil Kumar, a youngster from Dharmapuri district, who was allegedly tortured and killed in the custody of the Forest Department.
Dr Ramadoss stated that Senthil, along with his father Govindaraj and brother Sakthi, was taken in for questioning by forest officials on March 17. However, the family received no information about their whereabouts for days. Following a police complaint, Sakthi was returned to the family, while Govindaraj was arrested in connection with the poaching of a tusker.
According to the Forest Department, Senthil allegedly escaped while in handcuffs during a field visit to the incident site. However, his decomposed body was found 15 days later in the Eriyur reserve forest. The department claimed he had taken his own life after escaping custody, but Dr Ramadoss and human rights activists suspect foul play.
“Why did the Forest Department withhold information from the family for three days? Why was entry into Kongarapatti forest, where the body was found, restricted between March 18 and April 4?” Dr Ramadoss questioned.