Three persons from Salem district were arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), on Wednesday for allegedly damaging police vehicles during the rioting and large-scale violence that broke out on the premises of Sakthi Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Kaniyamoor near Chinna Salem in the district on July 17 following the death of a class XII girl.
The accused identified as S. Ajith, 26, S. Vijayamani, 39, and S. Ajith, 22 of Attur in Salem district were produced before a local court and remanded to custody.
A police officer said during examination of the CCTV footage, the trio were seen damaging the police vehicles near the school. The accused were absconding since the incident.
On July 17, violence broke out on the school premises after a large number of locals and outsiders broke the barricades placed near the institution and stormed into the campus following the death of a Class XII girl student on July 13. As many as 96 vehicles, including 61 police and government vehicles and 35 institution vehicles were gutted in the violence.
The SIT, while submitting a status report on August 29, informed the Madras High Court that it had arrested 40 individuals and three juveniles for rioting and damaging police vehicles as well as the private school building.
