A day after a college student, N. Logeswari, died during an unauthorised disaster preparedness drill on campus in Coimbatore, it emerged on Friday that the trainer, Arumugam, who pushed her from the second floor sunshade, was an impostor claiming to represent the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
He had conducted many such drills in various institutions in Coimbatore and the neighbouring districts in the past two to three years using a forged NDMA letterhead.
“The NDMA wasn’t involved in this [Coimbatore] drill,” the Authority, which functions under the Union Home Ministry, said in a statement in New Delhi.
Not authorised
“The trainer wasn’t authorised by the NDMA to conduct such a drill. The NDMA does not approve of such drills to be undertaken without adequate preparation and safety measures,” the authority added.
Arumugam, who has since been arrested by the Coimbatore police, had added NDMA as a suffix to his name on his Facebook account and claimed to be a trainer at the Authority.
He had shared several photographs of him with students of various institutions on social media.
In the instant case, he approached the Kovai Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science, claiming to be a Training Officer, Disaster Management and First Aid (Tamil Nadu), and offered to conduct the drill. While he did not charge any fee, he said students who intended to get a certificate must pay ₹50 each.
Minister for Municipal Administration S.P. Velumani handed over a cheque of ₹5 lakh to Logeswari’s parents.