Panic gripped the Coimbatore Corporation Council at its special meeting here on Friday when Independent councillor M.S. Velmurugan doused himself with kerosene in an attempt at self-immolation.
Some councillors stepped in just as he tried to take a matchbox from his trouser pocket. He was later removed by the police. None had got wind of the fact that he had managed to smuggle in the bottle of kerosene.
This was the latest of Mr. Velmurugan's protests in the Council against a scheme to relocate slum dwellers to multi-storeyed tenements being constructed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
After some of his queries on the scheme were answered by the Mayor and the Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra, the Mayor asked Mr. Velmurugan to stop speaking as he was getting into an issue not related to the subject placed for discussion.
Alleging denial of right to speak, Mr. Velmurugan took out the kerosene bottle wrapped in a sheet of newspaper and concealed under the table and poured it on himself.
Women members later pointed out that at least a few of them would have suffered burns if he had set himself on fire. Some kerosene spilled on women councillors seated close to Mr. Velmurugan.
Drops of kerosene fell in the eyes of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam councillor Y. Velmani who could not take part in the rest of the meeting.
On a complaint lodged by Mayor R. Venkatachalam, the police filed cases against the councillor under Sections 309 (attempt to commit suicide) and 506(i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The Mayor announced Mr. Velmurugan's suspension. He has been barred from attending three Council meetings.
