Now, CBI to look into suicides in Pollachi

The CBI officers have gathered information from Pollachi Government Hospital on the list of patients treated for suicide attempts and those who died after hospitalisation. The cops have first taken records for the month of February, when videos of few women being exploited by the gang was leaked in social media,” said a cop.

The CBI is likely to inquire the women who attempted suicide to know if they took the extreme decision following exploitation by the members of the gang. They have collected the address and contact details of the victims from the hospital to proceed further, sources added.

After a young college girl blew the lid off the alleged blackmail and extortion, the Pollachi rural police arrested five persons – Tirunavukkarasu, Sabarirajan, Sathish, Vasantha Kumar and Manivannan – who allegedly sexually exploited the girls, videographed the act and extorted money. Later on, five others including ‘Bar’ Nagaraj, a local functionary of the AIADMK, were arrested for assaulting the brother of the victim.

The Pollachi sex scandal turned out to be a key poll issue during the Lok Sabha campaign with opposition parties demanding a detailed and unbiased probe to arrest all those who exploited young women. The CBI took over the case from the CB CID in April.

During the first round of inquiry, the CBI summoned women who were allegedly sexually exploited the gang and recorded their statements. Also, the officials of the premier investigation agency also queried those who had financial dealings with Thirunavukkarasu, who is into money lending business.

Local police sources said that many more persons who were allegedly part of the network would be caught in the coming days, as investigations gains momentum. Though the opposition parties have been raising allegations of political connections, it is yet to be ascertained by investigating cops.