The judge also ordered stringent action against the then Dharmapuri Collector, Superintendent of Police and District Forest Officer for having failed to protect the hapless villagers. The case was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on the direction of the Madras High Court in 1995. Since it took 19 long years, from the date of the incident, for the trial to complete, 54 accused persons died pending trial. On September 29, 2011, the trial court convicted the 215 surviving accused persons, who included Harikrishnan and four other IFS officials. Pending appeal since 2011, many of the 215 convicts, too, died, leaving the High Court to confirm the conviction and sentences of those who had survived.

Source: The Hindu September 29, 2023 23:39 UTC