Shaji Purushothaman, son of industrialist M.P. Purushothaman of the Empee Group, appeared on Friday in the chief metropolitan magistrate court in connection with a hit-and-run case in Egmore last May.
After taking cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the city police, the chief metropolitan magistrate, M. Gopalan, had ordered Shaji and his accomplices to appear in court for receiving copies of the chargesheet. Recording the appearance of Shaji and R.M. Kumar alias ‘Kudirai’ Kumar, the court adjourned the matter to October 24 as the other two accused in the case were not present.
According to the prosecution, On May 23, Shaji drove a Mercedez Benz, owned by him, in a drunken condition, along with three friends. Near the Government Maternity Hospital in Egmore, the car ran over some persons sleeping on the pavement, killing a 13-year-old boy and injuring others.
In an eight-page chargesheet, the traffic investigation wing of the city police charged Shaji and his friends R.M. Kumar, Syed Anwar and Anil Rao for causing death by negligence, drunken driving, rash driving and damaging public property.
