A Deputy Superintendent of Police probing into incidents that led to the death of nine people, due to asphyxiation, inside a scan centre situated close to a fireworks shop that caught fire on October 20 told the Madras High Court Bench here on Tuesday that investigation conducted by him so far did not lead to materials indicating the involvement of the proprietor of the scan centre V. Nagendran in the crime.
After recording the submission made by the DSP, a Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and M.V. Muralidaran, closed a public interest litigation petition taken up by the court suo motu on the basis of a news report that appeared in The Hindu with respect to the fire accident. The judges also directed the investigating officer to complete the investigation possibly within eight weeks and file a final report before the lower court concerned.
The Bench also recorded an undertaking given by Virudhunagar Superintendent of Police that the direction issued by the court last month to pay Rs.3 lakh each to the legal heirs of all nine deceased shall be complied with in four weeks. The SP told the court that he had already identified the legal heirs and was awaiting sanction of money by the State Government under the Victim Compensation Scheme.
In his status report filed in the court on Tuesday, DSP K. Saravanakumar said that though Dr. Nagendran had been arrayed as the fourth accused in the First Information Report, the investigation conducted so far did not reveal his involvement in the crime. He also said that the prime accused Suthanthirarajan, who had obtained licence to run the fireworks shop but was running it through two others, was yet to be nabbed.
However, the police had arrested the second and third accused Shenbagaraman and Anand respectively who were running the fireworks shop and also obtained statements from several witnesses.
