Cholanaikkars tribes: Kerala High Court seeks state stand on blood samples

Kochi: Kerala High Court on Monday asked the state to submit its stand on a plea alleging that the blood samples of Cholanaikkar tribes at Attappady were collected for sending them to a foreign pharmacy for a study. The court asked the state to verify the allegation and to file a report. A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Thottahil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice Anu Shivaraman issued the directive when a plea seeking the state to produce the inquiry report by S. Sreejith, IG attached to the State Human Rights Commission into the allegation came up for hearing.

The petition was filed by P.D. Joseph of Thirssur. According to him, the former was appointed by the State Human Rights Commission to inquire into the allegation of collecting blood samples for a study to find out how the Cholanaikkar tribes were surviving without food and medicines.

The petitioner also sought a directive to produce the report of inquiry submitted by Jacob Thomas, Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, into the allegation of misappropriation of funds allotted for the welfare of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribe communities.