Bike rider ‘attacked’ by cop dies at Government Rajaji Hospital

MADURAI: A man who fell from his moving bike after allegedly being ‘attacked’ by a policeman with lathi died here at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on Sunday. Another person who was riding pillion on the bike sustained injuries.   
The deceased has been identified as T Vivekananthakumar (30) of Madurai, who runs a tyre shop in Simmakkal. He was married and has a child. 

Speaking to Express, the injured pillion rider Saravanakumar (28) said the incident happened during a vehicle check on Saturday around 11.30pm while he along with Vivekananthakumar were on their way home via Vaikai Bank Street near Annamalai Theatre. “When Vivekananthakumar saw the policemen, he tried to slow down the two-wheeler. However, one of the policemen attacked him with a lathi on his chest before he could stop the bike. Vivekananthakumar lost control over the bike and fell down,” he said. 
Saravanakumar said that his friend had sustained head injuries in the fall and fainted. He said that as no police official came forward to help, he called another friend, who rushed to spot and took the two to Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) in an ambulance. 

Following Saravanakumar’s online complaint, Thilagar Thidal police registered a case under section of IPC 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

A senior police official said they conducted an enquiry with police personnel who were on duty. In the preliminary investigation, it was found that the duo fell off the bike after seeing the police personnel. The policemen claimed that they had not attacked the rider with lathi. 

“Vivekananthakumar was not wearing a helmet at the time. However we are not able to reach a conclusion with the available information. We are waiting for the postmortem report,” added the senior police personnel.