The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed the bail petition filed by S. Selvakumar of Karur district, one of the main accused in the Karur environmental activist R. Jaganathan murder case.
Justice T. V. Thamilselvi dismissed the bail petition filed by Selvakumar who is the second accused in the murder case. The accused was arrested and remanded to judicial custody on September 12.
Activist Jaganathan of Kalipalayam in Karur district was fatally run over by a truck belonging to the Annai Stone Quarry last month after he had filed several complaints seeking closure of illegal stone quarries in the region.
The petitioner Selvakumar denied the allegations levelled against him and said that he was falsely implicated in the case. The police have arrested quarry owner Selvakumar, lorry driver Sakthivel, and helper Ranjith Kumar on the charges of murdering Jaganathan.
In an intervening petition, Valliyathal, mother of Jaganathan strongly opposed the bail petition of Selvakumar. She said her son played an active role in protecting the environment. He was killed after he had filed a series of complaints and pursued several other measures appealing to the authorities seeking the closure of the illegal stone quarries, she said.
