TN: Karur man killed in an accident, relatives allege murder

Following a fatal road accident on September 10, which resulted in the death of a 52-year-old man, his relatives dismissed that it was an accident, and alleged that he was deliberately struck.

Jaganathan was killed instantly, when the two-wheeler he was riding was struck by a heavy vehicle, near Karur.  Relatives of the victim, alleged that the accident was the result of a murder attempt due to prior enmity. Jaganathan, who was from Kallipalayam in Karur district, was deliberately struck down from his two-wheeler by a mini lorry and killed, while on the way home from Karudayampalayam, his relatives alleged.

In 2019, Jaganathan had been admitted to a hospital, due to multiple wounds he received in an attack against him. In his complaint to the police, he blamed Selvakumar, the owner of a crusher unit, adjoining Jaganathan’s fields.  Jaganathan, in his statement, had said that he was a farmer and that the smoke from Selvakumar’s crusher Annai Blue Metal was streaming into his fields. Despite multiple attempts to resolve the issue including in the Karur Court, Jaganathan had said that nothing had changed and that there was a great deal of animosity from Selvakumar. 

He also had given a statement saying that on March 31 of 2019, he found Selvakumar’s JCB blocking the dirt track home. “When I asked him how I was to use the track since he had dug it up, he abused me,” Jaganathan added in the FIR. He further said that he was viciously attacked with a sickle by Selvakumar and chased down by his people and that he was later threatened by Selvakumar that he would kill Jaganathan. Several relatives of Selvakumar also allegedly verbally abused him before they all went away leaving Jaganathan behind. People in the vicinity then took Jaganathan to the Karur hospital, where he was treated for his wounds and he gave his statement to the K Paramathi police.