The Pudukkotai police have arrested four men for the murder of anti-sand mining activist and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) member K Jagaber Ali. The arrested men include R Rasu, the owner of RR Sand Crushers quarry, S Muruganandhan, Kasinathan, and R Dinesh Kumar, according to reports. RR Sand Crushers’ co-owner Ramaiya, who is also a suspect in the case, is reportedly absconding.
The four men have been booked under Sections 194(1), 191(2), 61(2), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and remanded in judicial custody.
Jagaber Ali died in Pudukottai district’s Vengalur on Friday, January 17, after a lorry hit him while he was riding his bike. The police’s initial investigation revealed that Jagaber was murdered by persons who could be traced back to a quarry. It was against the same quarry that Jagaber had filed complaints with the Pudukkottai district administration, suspecting illegal mining activities.
In a video recorded before his death, Jagaber Ali says that RR Sand Crushers was involved in a huge illegal mineral theft, and that he had complained about this to everyone including the Tahsildar, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), District Revenue Officer (DRO), Collector, and the Minerals Department. He alleged that the Tahsildar had leaked the information to that company.
Following the arrest of the four men, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami accused the government of shielding the real culprits in the case and held the government responsible for Jagaber’s murder.
Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam, an anti-corruption NGO based in Chennai, said in a statement, “The government should bring the Whistleblowers Protection Act to protect the lives of government employees and activists who raise their voices against the irregularities and corruption within and outside the government in Tamil Nadu.”
He demanded departmental and criminal action to be initiated against those who failed to take action against RR Sand Crushers, and further demanded that Durai Murugan, the state Minister for Water Resources, Irrigation, Legislative Assembly, Minerals & Mines, be removed from his post for reported inaction.