Tension prevailed at the tribal hamlets of Kariakovil in Kalvarayan Hills in Salem district on Monday, after the news of the five bodies found under suspicious circumstances in Vontimitta Lake in Andhra Pradesh surfaced.
On Sunday afternoon, Kadapa police retrieved five decomposed bodies that are suspected to be of woodcutters from Tamil Nadu hired by the Red Sanders smugglers. The identity of the deceased hasn't been ascertained yet.
Andhra Pradesh Police's Officer on Special Duty Adnan Naim Asmi said they have so far found out that the men are from Salem. Preliminary observations suggest it to be a "clear case of drowning", he said. "At this point in time, it is difficult to tell. The reasons can be further established following the autopsy," Adnan said.
AP police shared the identity of the victims with the Tamil Nadu police, who in turn informed the family members in Karunmandurai. The family members have left for Kadapa to identify the deceased.
Villagers said agents lured locals to work in sprawling pepper farms in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka by offering a good pay. "We are in shock how our men ended up in the lake. Their death remains mysterious. The bodies should be brought here and subjected to a another post-mortem," said the grieving villagers. They sought the intervention of state government to probe whether they were killed by Andhra Pradesh police.
"These five men were part of about 170 persons from Salem and Tiruvannamalai district taken to Andhra Pradesh by middlemen to work for Red Sanders smugglers. As per our information, they had left over a week ago for the neighbouring state. There is no information on the others," Tamil Nadu Tribals Association Vice President, Ponnusami, who visited the tribal hamlet of the deceased, said.
Identity crisis
AP police shared the identity of the victims with TN police, who informed the family members in Karunmandurai. The family members have left for Kadapa to identify the deceased.
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