Tension prevailed at Thoothukudi South police station for a while on Friday after a man who was brought for interrogation on Thursday night reportedly died of heart attack.
A common feast was organised in a church at Chidambara Nagar here on Thursday night. A. Pandiarajan (34) of West Polepettai, a bleaching powder wholesaler, had gone there with his three friends though he had only one token meant for the feast. When he tried to enter the venue with his friends after showing the token, the police on duty told him that they would allow only one person.
However, Pandiarajan, who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol, forcibly took his friends inside the venue. When a woman head constable Ruba Roselin tried to stop them, Pandiarajan allegedly abused her and made his entry.
Subsequently, he was picked up by other policemen in the vicinity and taken to the Thoothukudi South police station for interrogation.
As he reportedly developed chest pain around 3 a.m., he was rushed to the nearby Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital. However, he died on the way.
“The past medical history of Pandiarajan says he had heart ailments for which he was under medication for the past two years,” said Superintendent of Police Ashwin M. Kotnis, who came to the South police station and conducted an enquiry along with ASP Selvanagarathinam.
While admitting that Pandiarajan was under medication for heart problems, relatives of the deceased, who gathered at the hospital alleged that Pandiarajan had been beaten to death.
First Judicial Magistrate Annamalai, who came to the hospital around 2.15 p.m., enquired the relatives before the post-mortem. After the enquiry, the post-mortem was conducted.
“We’ve nothing to hide. Once he (Pandiarajan) complained of chest pain, the police got the tablets he was taking from his wife and gave it to him. Since the problem continued even after taking the tablets, he was rushed to the hospital. But he died on the way. The entire post-mortem has been videographed. If foul play is detected during the judicial enquiry or in the post-mortem report, we’ll take stern action against the policemen concerned,” Mr. Ashwin said.
