Gokulraj, an engineer, was found dead on railway tracks in Tamil Nadu last week
On June 24, a young engineer in Tamil Nadu was found dead on railway tracks, hours after he was seen speaking to an upper caste girl. A week on, the police have said that 21-year-old Gokulraj was not run over by a train; he was murdered.
The police in Namakkal district have registered a murder case and arrested six people after the post mortem report suggested that Gokulraj was dead before he was placed on the tracks.
The police are looking for Yuvaraj, who heads the Dheeran Chinnamalai Peravai - a fringe outfit that champions the cause of the Kongu Vellalar, a backward caste community.
The case took a new turn after the police found CCTV footage in which Gokulraj, dalit, was seen being dragged away from a temple by a group of men while he was speaking to his friend.
Last week, the police had filed a case of kidnapping and suspicious death on the basis of a note in his pocket, which indicated a failed affair. But the engineer's family alleged that he was killed over his relationship with a girl from an upper caste, and refused to take his body until a murder case was registered.
Recently, the Kongu Vellalar community in the district hounded Tamil writer Perumal Murugan, claiming his book "Madhorubagan" defamed their women and temple festival. Under tremendous pressure and coercion, the writer ultimately withdrew all his books and writings and shifted base to Chennai.