Seven persons have been arrested in connection with a bus burning incident that took place in Kancheepuram following the conviction of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Saturday.
The police identified the arrested persons as K. Parimalam (46), an AIADMK party functionary, his wife, Uma Maheswari (41), who is a former AIADMK municipal councillor, and five others – Chandru (26), Lakshmanan (57), Suresh (27), Prakash (24) and Rajkumar (29).
On Saturday, around 3.15 p.m., a State Transport Corporation bus travelling to Kancheepuram from Poonamallee was torched on Jawaharlal Nehru Street (Kammala Street). The incident occurred a few minutes after a Bangalore special court pronounced its verdict in a disproportionate assets case in which Ms. Jayalalithaa was among the four accused.
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A case under sections 147, 148, 294 (b), 341, 353 and 506(2) of IPC read with sections 3 and 4 of TNPPD Act was registered against the seven suspects. They were remanded to judicial custody till October 10, the police said.
An AIADMK party functionary, Babu (45) of Kuruvimalai, reportedly committed suicide on Sunday morning.
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According to the police, the deceased, who was serving as the deputy branch secretary of AIADMK Kuruvimalai unit, hung himself from a tree branch near his house. His body was spotted by residents, who informed Babu’s family members.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Babu was visibly upset over Saturday’s developments, and might have thus taken the extreme step. He has two wives and four children, the police said.
Suicide prevention helpline, Sneha, can be contacted at 044-24640060.