A woman constable was crushed to death and another constable was injured after a huge tree fell on them near the Chief Minister Special Cell inside St. George Fort on Tuesday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Kavitha, 47, head constable attached with Traffic Wing, Muthiyalpet. The injured person has been identified as Murugan, 48, from Traffic Wing, Royapuram.
These personnel were assigned duty at the Fourth Gate of St.George Fort which houses the Secretariat, Legislative Assembly and other offices. At 9.10 am, she was sitting on the stairs leading to the Chief Minister's Cell and having breakfast.
A source said, at the time, another constable Thirumugam who was around noticed the tree falling. He alerted her to move away, but even before he finished, the tree fell on her. She was caught under the tree and crushed to death. Murugan, who was standing near the tree, was also injured.
Five bikes including Tirumugam’s and a car were also damaged. Later, the staff of the secretariat and police personnel retrieved her body with the help of personnel from Fire and Rescue Services. While removing the tree branches, Senthil Kumar, 51, fire service personnel was also injured. Murugan and Senthilkumar were sent to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in an ambulance van.
Senior officers including Director General of Police, C.Sylendra Babu visited the spot. Fort Police registered a case in connection with the incident. Chief Minister M.K.Stalin expressed shock over the death and also conveyed his condolence to the bereaved family of Ms Kavitha. He ordered a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to her family and ₹5 lakh for the injured.
Later in the day, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin accompanied by officials visited Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai and paid floral tributes to the mortal remains of the policewoman. He also visited Murugan, who had been injured in the incident and was being treated in the hospital.
Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan, HR&CE Minister P.K. Sekar Babu, MPs S. Jagathrakshakan, Kalanidhi Veerasamy, Home Secretary S.K. Prabakar, Director-General of Police Sylendra Babu, Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal, Chennai Collector J. Vijayarani accompanied the Chief Minister.
Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu visited the spot and enquired with officials. Later in the evening, workers were seen pruning the trees. An official working in one of the departments in the Secretariat told The Hindu a huge tree had fallen near the CSD canteen due to rains on Saturday last and officials should have taken a cue from that.
