Two-year-old grandson of Kottai Ameer, in whose memory the State government had instituted a communal harmony award, was killed in an accident involving a police vehicle in South Ukkadam in the city on Wednesday.
Enquiries with residents revealed that the accident happened when the Coimbatore City Police rushed to Anna Nagar on suspicion that there could be explosives. The police action followed the seizure of a pistol from Mohammad Ansar, a resident of the area.
Asif Rehman came under the wheels of the police vehicle. Police sources said the accident took place when the driver was trying to reverse the vehicle.
The death sparked protests in the area and the Coimbatore City Traffic Police had to divert the traffic at the Ukkadam and Sungam junctions.
The residents withdrew their protest after senior police officials assured them that action would be taken against the driver as per law. The police told The Hindu that the Traffic Investigation Wing–West would register a case under Section 304-A of IPC.
They could not carry out the search for explosives because of the residents’ protest.
To prevent any untoward incident, the police had stationed adequate strength in the area. Senior officials were supervising the operations on the ground.
N.I. Jalaludeen, Asif’s uncle, said the deceased was the only child of V.A. Rahmathullah and Rabya. Mr. Rahmathullah, a scrap dealer, is Kottai Ameer’s last son. Ameer worked for promoting communal harmony in Coimbatore.
He used to participate in Koniamman and various temple festivals. He was hacked to death on March 18, 1994.
