Activist Mugilan missing case: Cops told to file status report

A division bench of Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice M Nirmal Kumar passed the interim order on the habeas corpus plea moved by human rights activist Henri Tiphange. He had sought the court to direct Tamil Nadu police to trace and produce anti-Sterlite activist Mugilan.

When the plea came up for hearing, the Egmore police informed the court that Mugilan did not board the Nagarkovil Express on February 15 as claimed in the plea and that his mobile phone network disappeared in Guduvanchery near Chennai.

Recording the submission, the bench suo motu impleaded the Egmore Railway Police and directed them to provide copies of the CCTV footages of February 15 to Egmore police.

The petitioner stated, Mugilan alias Shanmugam, coordinator of the Tamil Nadu Environment Protection Movement, on holding meticulous research on the reason behind the May 22 Tuticorin firing had conducted a press meet in Chennai based on the evidences and documents gathered by him on the police firing. During the meet, Mugilan demonstrated the involvement of higher police officers in the firing and named then inspector general for south range Shaliesh Kumar Yadav and deputy inspector general of police, Tirunelveli, Kapil Kumar Saratkar based on evidences available with him.

Later, he boarded a train from Egmore to Madurai but didn’t reach the destination. Based on this, the habeas corpus plea was moved alleging that police had failed to act on a missing complaint seeking to investigate his disappearance.