Jothinathan, 45, of Paduvanendal near Kadalai taluk, died when the police chased a crowd watching rooster fight in a dry public tank on Tuesday.
In view of Aadi 18 Peprukku festival, villagers organised a rooster fight. A team from the Kadaladi police station rushed to the spot. On seeing them, the crowd ran helter skelter. In the melee, Jothinathan fell on the ground and turned unconscious. Villagers rushed him to the nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead. So, the villagers resorted to a road roko. Tahsildar Sekar and DSP John Britto came to the spot and held discussion. The villagers claimed that Jothinathan died after police beat him up. The body was sent for postmortem.
