An independent fact finding mission has claimed that police negligence was a major factor in the death of 52-year-old Jaganathan who was allegedly murdered in September this year after he complained against an illegal stone quarry. The report said that the police deliberately downplayed previous attacks and failed to provide security to Jagannathan who was eventually run over by a truck that belonged to the quarry owners.
Jaganathan was allegedly killed by Selvakumar, the owner of the Annai Blue Metals quarry and the report submitted by the panel pointed out prior enmity between the two men. The fact finding panel also recommended that Jaganathan’s family be given further compensation.
According to the report, Selvakumar and one of his associates, Ranjith, attacked Jaganathan with chilli powder in April 2019. On May 31, 2019 he was again attacked, this time with weapons like knives and sickles and was grievously injured. Jaganathan was admitted to the hospital and a police complaint was filed against the attackers. The report mentions that the case was for attempted murder, but this was omitted from the final report which was filed by the police in the Aravakurichi court in June 2020.
In August 2022, Jaganathan filed a petition at the Gram Sabha meeting held in the village panchayat seeking the closure of Annai Blue Metal for operating without the permission of the government. Later that month, he also submitted a petition to the District Environmental Engineer requesting to take action. Following this, the District Geology and Mines Department officials sealed Annai Blue Metals on September 8, 2022. Two days after the sealing, a Mahindra pick-up truck belonging to Annai Blue Metals collided with Jaganathan, who was travelling on his two-wheeler. Jaganathan died on the spot.
The report says that Jaganathan’s family members requested the District Collector to conduct a post-mortem again but it was denied. According to the panel, a family member said that the Additional Deputy Superintendent of Police (ADSP) Geethanjali, ADSP Kannan and Revenue Division Officer (RDO) Rupina threatened the victim’s family and made them receive Jaganathan’s body. Those who provided free legal counsel to Jaganathan’s family were also threatened and arrested illegally. The report mentions that several police officers were involved in the intimidation of the family members including Karur Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Mr. Devaraj and Aravakurichi DSP Mr. Muthamil Selvan.
The report also found that the quarries in the Pugalur taluk in Karur were not monitored constantly by the necessary authorities and were being operated without the required licences. The quarries also violated multiple environmental guidelines and polluted land, air and water bodies. This affected agricultural produce in the area and livelihoods of the people as well.
Based on the findings, the fact-finding team provided several recommendations to help Jaganathan’s family. The report states that the officials who were involved in the case must be prosecuted under Section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1998 which states that action must be taken against violation of human rights and negligence to such violation by public officials. The report also added that Rs 19 lakhs from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund must be given as compensation to Jaganathan’s family, as the Rs 1 lakh currently given to the family is not sufficient. The report further recommends providing protection to Jaganathan’s family under the Witness Protection Programme because they might still be facing risk from Selvakumar, the owner of Annai Blue Metals.