Five Dalit activists who were arrested and detained for allegedly trying to derail trains near Tirupur six years ago, have been acquitted of all charges by a local court in Coimbatore on Monday.
The five activists belong to the Aathi Thamilar Peravai or the Arunthathiyar Viduthalai Iyakkam, groups that have been protesting the Eelam war, according to The New Indian Express.
The police said that the men wanted to derail the train to protest against state government’s inaction during the last phase of the war in Sri Lanka.
First, the government arrested two men on November 26, 2010, for allegedly attempting to damage six trains between June and November of 2010. After a month, police arrested three more men and accused them of attempting to derail a passenger train.
In March 2011, two among them were booked under National Security Act, which was challenged in the Madras High Court.
On Monday, the Coimbatore Judicial Magistrate VI Rajavelu acquitted them of all the charges. The lawyers told The New Indian Express that the police was not able to prove any of the charges against them. They said, “The police had no physical or circumstantial evidence to prove the case.”
The five activists are M Gandhi (38), R Parameswaran (45), R Manickam (57), VC Kathiravan (39) and K Mani (38). They all hail from Uthukuli and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu.