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Violence returns to TN district

A village headman was hacked to death today, shattering the fragile peace which was holding for the last 36 hours in the riot-torn Ramanathapuram district, raising the toll in the caste violence and police firings since Saturday to nine.

A five-member gang accosted the thalayari (headman) Ramar and fatally attacked him in Ramanathapuram town.

About 30 people wielding clubs and sticks entered the bus stand at Sivaganga and attacked the buses parked there this afternoon. Three buses were heavily damaged.

Seventeen houses were looted at Semanur and about 30 huts torched at Chatrakudi near Paramakudi late last night.

Barring the day-light murder, no major incident was reported at Ramanathapuram town, additional director general of police Kumarasamy said.

The situation in Paramakudi town, which witnessed large-scale arson on Sunday, was limping back to normalcy. While shops opened today, buses were off the road. There has been no vehicular movement on the Madurai-Ramanathapuram-Rameswaram national highway for the last two days.

State ministers Rahman Khan and Samayanallur Selavaraj are expected to visit Ramanathapuram tomorrow.

Meanwhile, All India Anna DMK general secretary J Jayalalitha today reiterated her demand that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi resign if he could not restore peace in Ramanathapuram.

Launching a scathing attack on Karunanidhi for his failure to visit the affected areas, Jayalalitha in a statement said the chief minister should camp in the district and call both the warring sections for talks to find an amicable solution.

"If he is incapable of doing so, I reiterate that he should resign as chief minister and hand over the responsibility of protecting the people to the army," she said.

"Why is it that Karunanidhi, if he is truly interested in the welfare of the people, did not go and camp in Ramanathapuram and call both warring sections for talks in order to restore peace?" she asked.

After the communal violence broke out, Ramanathapuram district remained cut off from other parts of the state during the last eight days and people could not step out of their houses, leave alone walk in the streets, she alleged.

Jayalalitha said Karunanidhi did not deserve to remain in office as he failed to visit the affected areas though there were ominous signs of the situation deteriorating a week before.

Jayalalitha also took exception to allowing the Ramanathapuram district collector and superintendent of police to proceed on leave when the district was facing such a crisis.

UNI

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