"Sterlite protests: Activists urge TN government to ensure safe return of environmentalist S Mugilan", 23 February 2019

Several activists and academics on Saturday [23 February] wrote to the Tamil Nadu government expressing their concern for the safety of an environmental rights activist who went missing a week ago.

S Mugilan reportedly “disappeared” after he addressed a press conference in Chennai on February 15. He had accused senior police officials of orchestrating violence in Thoothukudi during last year’s anti-Sterlite protests, in which at least 13 people were killed in police firing.

“We are writing to urge you to ensure the safe return of Mr Mugilan...,” the letter addressed to the Tamil Nadu chief secretary and other senior police officers said...Mugilan’s abrupt disappearance and the silence of the state government raise grave concerns about the state of civil liberties and human rights in Tamil Nadu, said the letter...

At the press conference, Mugilan had alleged that the police, in connivance with the management of Sterlite, were behind the violence that took place on May 22. He specifically named Indian Police Service officers...Amnesty India [has] demanded that state authorities initiate an investigation to find him...