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Cops coercing us to sign fake declaration: Victims’ kin
Families of protesters who died during the recent police firing here didn’t just have to deal with the loss of their loved ones, but also face threats from police personnel. The families complained that they were threatened by the police on Friday to sign fake documents declaring that the protesters died during the anti-Sterlite violence and not due to the police firing.
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Thoothukudi
During the anti-Sterlite protests on Tuesday and Wednesday, 13 protesters were killed in police firing. Their remains have been kept in the Thoothukudi Government Hospital, though the post-mortem was carried out. The police now have to get the permission of the family members to carry out the autopsy.
On Friday, Hariharan, an Inspector at the SIPCOT Police Station here, along with a Revenue Department official, visited Ranjith Kumar’s family. Ranjith had died during the police firing. They allegedly asked his family members to sign a fake declaration, which the family refused.
Speaking to DT Next, Arumugam, Ranjith’s uncle, said that in the declaration, it was mentioned that Ranjith had died in the violence and not due to police firing.
When he questioned the police on omission of “police firing”, Hariharan had threatened to fake his signature. Unfazed, the family firmly refused to sign the document.
“I had clearly informed the Inspector that the family will sign only when the words “police firing” are included in the declaration, after which he and the Revenue official left,” said Arumugam.
Sources said policemen had threatened five more families to sign such fake declarations to carry out the autopsy, while trying to hide the fact that the protesters had died of bullet injuries.
When Thoothukudi SP Murali Rambha was contacted, he said he was not aware of the issue and assured that he would look into it.
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