After action against cop, family of Thoothukudi murder victim accepts his body

THOOTHUKUDI: The family of 28-year-old T Selvan, who was beaten to death on September 17, finally received his body on Monday after Tirunelveli Deputy Inspector General (DIG) placed under suspension police inspector Harikrishnan, who is accused of having a hand in his death. 

Selvan was allegedly murdered by former AIADMK commerce wing secretary Thirumanavel and his supporters over a property dispute.

The body was laid to rest in Chokkankudiyiruppu at Sathankulam Taluk. While the State government has transferred the case from Thisayanvilai police station to the CB-CID, the AIADMK expelled Thirumanavel from the party.

In her complaint, Selvan's mother T Elisabeth said Thirumanavel had influenced Thattarmadam police inspector Harikrishnan to frame Selvan and his brothers Bangaru Rajan and Peter Raja in a case in order to grab their 1.75-acres of agricultural land. 

The victim's family refused to receive the body for four days, claiming that the police were trying to let the suspects escape. Meanwhile, the postmortem examination on the victim's body was conducted in the presence of three doctors on Saturday. The examination was videographed.

Though an FIR was registered against Harikrishnan and Thirumanavel, the Thisayanvillai police did not arrest them. This triggered a protest led by DMK’s Tiruchendur MLA Anitha Radhakrishnan in Chokkankudiyiruppu near Thattarmadam on Sunday evening. 

​As the agitation intensified, Thoothukudi Collector Sandeep Nanduri and Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar held talks with the protesters on Monday.

Nanduri said that as per Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami's order, the case was transferred to CB-CID for a “fair probe”. 

“The chief minister also ordered for a patta land with a solar-powered house, widow pension and a government job for Selvan's wife. Moreover, a detailed report on the condition of the bereaved family has been sent to the chief minister, recommending a suitable compensation,” he said. 

Jeyakumar assured that the property dispute would be settled and the allegation of false cases would be probed.
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Two held for damaging MLA's car
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Unidentified persons damaged Anitha Radhakrishnan's car in Thandapathu near Tiruchendur at around 1.30 am on Monday. Based on CCTV camera footage, Meignanapuram police arrested two supporters of Thirumanavel -- S Jinnah (27) and G Selvanayagam (47). The suspects are part of a caste organisation too.