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'They burnt to death in front of our eyes'
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The incident has it's own tale to tell about politics
in this country...
'They burnt to death in front of our eyes'
The All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam has two big shots in Dharmapuri.
On February 2, as soon as news of the judgment against
his party chief J Jayalalitha reached him, he staged an
agitation in Ilakayampatti on the main road.
A shopkeeper said that AIADMK cadres started
obstructing the traffic. Soon, a few cars, buses and a
large number of lorries were stranded. The travellers
were walking around, not knowing what to do.
Recollects the shopkeeper: "The road became very
crowded. I couldn't even go home. I locked up my shop.
I knew that something would happen.
"The first bus to catch the ire of the partymen was one
inside the bus station. They set it on fire. People in
the
bus stand put out the fire and the bus lost only three
seats.
"The next to come along was one from Palani. The
cadres were very angry. They started beating up the
driver. Rajendran restrained one boy called Cauvery.
The bus driver escaped. But Periyasamy, one in the
crowd, egged Cauvery. He said, 'We must do
something, buses are still plying'. It was then that
the
ill-fated bus came along," he says.
The students of the Coimbatore Agriculture College
were returning home when petrol bombs were hurled
into the bus.
Dharmapuri Police Superintendent P Kandasamy,
contrary to what Jayalalitha claims, is certain that
the
culprits belong to the AIADMK.
"We have made our enquiries. The bus was set on fire
by AIADMK partymen," he says. "The two who hurled
the petrol bomb from bikes are Madhu and Nedu. We
have mentioned that in the first information report.
All
the 20 accused belong to the AIADMK."
Only five have been arrested so far. The rest, the SP
says, have fled the district.
"We will arrest them," Kandaswamy is confident. "They
cannot escape."
"This incident has spoilt the name of our village,"
another shopkeeper says. "Our village is near this
road.
Why don't you come with me? You will see that we do
not allow any political party to put up even one flag
in
the village. They are allowed only on this road, in the
union office or inside the compound of their own
office.
We do not allow political fights within the village,
but
see what they have done now. The entire country has
heard about us all for the wrong
reason!"
DMK Councillor Murugan said: "I immediately called
the fire brigade. A man had called the local police.
But
there was only the writer and he said, 'There is nobody
here, I will inform when they
come.' "
A news reporter said a police jeep with one cop passed
by when smoke started coming out of the bus. The
students stopped him. His reply was, 'There is no
wireless in this jeep I will go and fetch help.'
"The cops as usual came after everything was over," the
reporter said.
The driver of the university bus had stopped the bus
under a tamarind tree. Near this tree is an English
medium school and a telephone exchange. A few
students got down to see what was happening, but about
20 girls stayed on board. Scared that somebody would
throw stones they closed all windows.
Miscreants poured petrol in the front. Two petrol
bombs were hurled inside. One landed in the front and
the other in the middle. Seeing the smoke the boys ran
to
save their colleagues. A boy working in a teashop by
the roadside recollected that people immediately rushed
to the bus with buckets of water.
"Some girls stumbled out of the front door. But then
the
front portion caught fire badly and they could not come
out. Most of the girls inside had fainted because they
couldn't breathe. They themselves had closed the
window.
"The backdoor was locked. In thepanic nobody thought
of keys. A few boys jumped in through the upper portion
of the backdoor and started dragging the girls out.
They
brought out quite a few. But they couldn't save these
three.
"Due to the smoke the boys were coughing badly. They
also looked like they would faint inside. The fire was
raging. The boys outside started screaming at these
boys
to jump outside or they would be killed themselves.
"They jumped out very reluctantly. We were all
standing outside. Those three girls burnt to death in
front of our eyes," the shopkeeper said, his voice
shaking.
The girls who died have been identified as Hemalatha
of Madras, Gayathri of Vridachalam and Kokila of
Namakkal. And everything has been photographed and
captured on video.
You wonder why so many cameras were around. A
local journalist gives explains the reason: Rajendran
is
a VIP in the AIADMK. He advertises in the local
papers regularly. "So when he calls and says he is
leading an agitation we will naturally be there," he
says.
Jayalalitha's claim that it wasn't her partymen who
were
responsible for the incident, thus, doesn't cut any
ice.
An eyewitness adds: "The other girls started getting
out
of the bus immediately, but these three went for their
luggage. It is fate that made them do that stupid
thing."
Yes. Just as it was fate that made two hooligans throw
petrol bombs inside.
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