Speaking at the Assembly, Palaniswami raises concern over rise of grave crimes in Tamil Nadu

Former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami expresses concern over rising crimes, murders, and assaults against women and children.

Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday expressed concern over the increase in crimes, especially murders, and those committed against women and children.

Speaking during the debate on the demand for grants for the Police Department in the Assembly, he listed instances of daring murders, assault on police personnel and other government officials, and crimes against women and children. Referring to an incident, where the family members of an accused in a sexual harassment case had attacked the house of the victim and even threatened her family, he said people were scared to lodge complaints with the police. In two other cases of harassment against women, information about the identity of the victims were leaked, he said. He added that if the AIADMK returned to power in 2026, a fresh investigation would be ordered into the Anna University sexual assault case to identify the real accused.

On the death of S. Vignesh, a Scheduled Caste student studying third year engineering in the Government Engineering College, Bodi, he said the victim was found dead in a suspicious manner in the hostel bathroom. It was claimed that the blood stains in the scene could have been caused by ant bites. He demanded that a proper investigation be conducted in the case find out the circumstances that led to the death of the student.

Urging the State authorities to take firm action where there were allegations of officials colluding with criminals, Mr. Palaniswami said the murder of AIADMK functionary and activist Jagaber Ali was shocking. Ali, who lodged complaints with the officials against illegal stone quarrying in Thirumaiyam, was run over by a lorry. Though the victim lodged complaints with the district mining and revenue officials, no action had been taken.

In Tirunelveli, a retired sub-inspector Zakhir Hussain posted a video on social media saying his life was under threat from a group. He was fighting against some individuals who had grabbed a land belonging to the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board. Despite several complaints, the police took no action against the accused persons. Zakir Hussain was hacked to death by a gang. Had the State intelligence acted on the inputs, the murder could have been prevented, he said.

When Mr. Palaniswami said drugs, especially ganja, was freely available in the State, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin intervened and said firm action was being taken to curb the menace of drugs. Giving data on the number of cases filed and arrests made over drug offences, he said that it was during the AIADMK regime that a Director-General of Police and Commissioner of Police were involved in the gutkha scam.

Mr. Palaniswami said that during the AIADMK rule, the State intelligence was so effective that specific inputs about the 2019 Easter Blasts in Sri Lanka was shared in advance. But the intelligence machinery had failed in the DMK regime. The focus of the officers was primarily to monitor Opposition party leaders, he alleged.