The men had allegedly picked up random people from the streets and confined over 100 people forcibly in a hostel under the guise of housing the destitute near Thondamuthur in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: Six people from a volunteer organization that was reportedly for the destitute have been arrested for forcibly confining more than 100 people in a hostel belonging to a banned Christian organization at the foothills of Attukkal village near Thondamuthur.
It is alleged that the six members of the Christian NGO had picked up the destitute off the roadsides in Coimbatore and some who were waiting at bus stops. They reportedly took these destitute and then locked them up in a hostel in Attukkal area of Thondamuthur, and shaved their heads.
The arrested have been identified as Jipin Baby (44), Simon Senthilkumar (44), George (54) Selwyn (49), Balachandran (36) and Arun (36) were arrested and jailed by the Thondamuthur police under 5 sections.
The anti-trafficking police in Coimbatore has been diligently working with NGOs to rescue the homeless and the mentally-challenged people roaming the streets, to relocate them into proper shelter homes.
The accused is a Christian NGO from Villupuram, which is engaged in the rescue of destitutes, is engaged in the task of rescuing the destitute.
The residents of the area have been alleging that for the past two days, an NGO has been bringing more than 100 unidentified persons in vehicles, illegally confining them and harassing them in a abandoned hostel at the foothills of Attukkal hill.
Locals reportedly heard loud cries of "Save Me!" for the last two days from the hostel and on nearing the hostel, they were shocked to see over 100 people locked up in more than 10 rooms and whose heads were shaved. The locals immediately informed the Thondamuthur police station who rushed to the hostel and investigated the inmates of the hostel.
On investigation, it was revealed that not all the persons confined in the hostel were destitute. Some were workers who slept on the road and elderly people who were waiting for a bus, but the six men reportedly forced them to accompany them.
One of the inmates who was harassed said that while he was an employee at a printing press in the Gandhipuram area of Coimbatore but was forcibly brought to the hostel while he was returning from work. Some of the harassed inmates were people who were sitting in front of the temple and reading the newspaper. They too were forced into a vehicle and locked up in the hostel. It has also been reported that the six men snatched their belongings, money, cell phones etc., and set them on fire. They also alleged that those who screamed for help were indiscriminately attacked.
Hindu organizations and political parties laid siege to the private hostel after the incident of abducting and harassing people on the grounds of being destitute spread like wildfire across the region. Based on the information, Perur Tahsildar Gandhimathi reached the spot, got the names and addresses of the people confined in the hostel and made arrangements to send them to their homes by vehicle.
Enraged locals in the area and political organizations argued with the authorities about how the abducted people could be sent back without proper investigation and filing of cases against the organization which had violated human rights, was into human trafficking and was illegally using the already sealed hostel. After the irate public overturned a vehicle, police were deployed in the area.
Meanwhile, Coimbatore District Collector G S Sameeran, District Superintendent of Police, V Badrinarayan and other higher police officials arrived at the spot to personally investigate the incident. Later, the District Collector ordered that among those abducted, those who had families would be returned to their families, those who were homeless would be relocated to Government shelters, and those who were mentally-challenged would be admitted to mental healthcare shelters. Accordingly, the police collected all the details of 131 persons who were present at the hostel.
The police are conducting an intensive investigation against 10 members of a voluntary organization who were involved in human rights violations by illegally detaining 131 people in a hostel that had already been sealed by the Government.
Anti-trafficking police are also investigating the gruesome incident and as a precautionary measure, the police under the leadership of the Assistant Commissioner has been deployed for security in the private hostel area in Attukal area.