Thoothukudi firing was carried out at the behest of a businessman: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court expressed displeasure over the manner in which the Thoothukudi police investigated the 2018 firing incident on protesters against the Sterlite plant. The 2018 police firing on protesters against the Sterlite plant that killed 13 people was a premeditated act at the instigation of the industrialist, the court said. A bench comprising Justice S.S. Sundar and Justice N. Senthil Kumar ordered the Directorate of Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to investigate the properties of 21 officers, including IPS, IAS, officers who served in Tuticorin. . The court has ordered an inquiry into the assets of the officers who fired at the peaceful protestors against the Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi in order to teach a lesson to high-ranking people and industrialists. (DVAC) has been ordered to probe the assets of 21 officers, including IAS and some IPS officers. The Madras High Court said that everything happened because the industrialists wanted to teach a lesson to the agitators. He wanted to teach a lesson to the protesters. The court said that the authorities helped in this. The court passed the order on a petition by social activist Henry Difagne seeking reopening of the investigation into the incident, which had been closed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). In May 2018, after the anti-Sterlite protests turned violent, 13 people were killed when police opened fire on protesters in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district. 13 people died in this shooting. Indeed, on May 22, a massive demonstration took place outside the Thoothukudi District Collectorate demanding the closure of the Sterlite copper plant, a unit of the Vedanta Group, over pollution concerns. They protested to shut down the copper smelter.