Chinese fugitive found working as jailor

A district court in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has found 269 officials including Indian Forest Service officers, guilty in the rape of several tribal women and brutalisation of their men in 1992. The sentence will be pronounced later, Dharmapuri Principal District Judge S Kumaraguru said on Thursday.The guilty face up to 10 years in jail. Nineteen years after the crime that shocked India, 54 of the accused are dead and many of the involved officials are retired. The crimes were committed as the team of police and forest officials, part of a Special Task Force (STF), combed the dense Satyamangalam forests in Krishnagiri district in search of notorious brigand Veerappan who was accused of sandalwood smuggling and the killing of several officers. Police and forest officials raided the village of Vachathi on June 20, 1992. The villagers were suspected of helping Veerappan hide and also of hiding sandalwood. Over 100 women were dragged out of their huts in the woods and many of them were raped while the men were brutally tortured. After a public outcry, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was tasked with investigating the case. However, the inquiry dragged on as officials involved took a stand that they have been wrongly implicated. ( from the gulf today )