THOOTHUKUDI: While the Thoothukudi police have been mourning the loss of 28-year-old constable Subramanian, some members of the backward community belonging to his assailant Durai Muthu, have started praising the history-sheeter and spreading memes and posters hailing his "valour".
30-year-old Muthu, who was accused of three murders of Dalit men, had hurled a country-made bomb at Subramanian and other police personnel while trying to evade capture a few days ago. While Subramanian had dodged one bomb, the second struck his head and exploded. Muthu was injured in the same blast and died later that day.
Muthu is alleged to have killed Vinoth and Ramachandran on April 22, 2018 at Mangalakurichi near Eral. In retaliation, Vinoth's brother allegedly murdered Muthu's elder brother Kannan in 2019. Continuing the cycle of revenge, Muthu allegedly murdered another person close to Vinoth at Pettai in Tirunelveli.
A special team, which included Subramanian, had set out to nab him earlier this week on suspicion that he was planning another murder. It is while attempting to escape them that he hurled the bombs.
Following his death, sections of his community have been hailing his "valour" in killing a policeman. Photos of Muthu being buried with a machete (aruval) have been widely shared alongside memes and posters hailing him by the name of his caste and terming his death a huge loss to the community of his sub-caste.
Images featuring him alongside the image of a roaring lion are being widely shared with captions referring to him as a braveheart who met with a valourous death.
These images and messages have come to the attention of the local police, who said they found it disheartening. "It hurts the police, but this is not limited to one community. Many communities hail accused persons on a caste basis," said a retired police official. Thoothukudi SP S Jeyakumar did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
However, members of the public feared that such messages would vitiate public harmony in the region, which is already divided on caste lines. The state government should nip such behaviour in the bud and quell casteist forces with an iron hand, some locals said.