Dalit boys attacked; eight held in Thattankulam

RAMANATHAPURAM: Eight persons, including six students, were arrested on Thursday for allegedly attacking students of the Dalit community in Thattankulam village.Police suspect that the incident was a fallout of previous enmity that existed between two groups of students belonging to different communities.On Wednesday, an altercation broke out between some students, who were travelling in a bus headed to Sayalkudi from Kamuthi, the police said.When the bus halted at the Thattankulam bus stop, a group of students attacked some students —said to be from the Dalit community— in Thattankulam village.Nine students, including Ganesh and Vijayakumar, sustained minor injuries in the incident. They were subsequently treated as out-patients at the Kamuthi government hospital.Based on a complaint lodged by Vijayakumar,  a victim, the Kovilankulam police arrested eight persons in connection with the alleged attack. Of these, Naganathan, Viknesh, Thirumurthy, Murugan, Ganesha Murthy and Mukesh, all students, hailing from Pudukottai. Later, they were produced in the court and remanded to custody.