I-T dept. had summoned engineer the day he ended life

Details of investments sought

S. Muthukumarasamy, the senior engineer who committed suicide by jumping before a train in Tirunelveli, was summoned by the Income Tax (IT) department to appear in person and explain his investments on February 20, the day he ended his life.

Sources in the investigating agency told The Hindu that the Assistant Executive Engineer of the Department of Agriculture Engineering was among 47 persons summoned as witnesses by the IT department to explain the investments they had made in a Tirunelveli-based real estate company. Muthukumarasamy had paid Rs. 13.5 lakh as advance for a property.

The matter came to light when IT officials scrutinised investments in the company. A sum of Rs. 2.3 crore was shown as advance paid by clients who had booked flats. The list of clients was obtained and summons served on each of them. The engineer was summoned to appear on February 20 and explain the source of his investment and also furnish details of sale/purchase of immovable property, bank details etc.

Nothing incriminating

The Crime Branch CID, which is investigating the case, examined an IT official and recorded his statement as to why Muthukumarasamy was summoned. Meanwhile, investigators said they had found nothing incriminating yet in the list of calls made/received by the engineer since January.

A copy of the call details record (CDR) accessed by

The Hindu shows that Muthukumarasamy made over 600 calls between February 1 and 20 to mobile phone numbers alone. Amid escalating pressure from opposition parties that are demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident, the CB-CID made extensive enquiries with all those who made calls to Muthukumarasamy in the last two or three months. Investigators were examining some persons whose numbers appeared frequently in the CDR, police sources said.

It was alleged that Muthukumarasamy took the extreme step as he was under tremendous pressure to favour an “influential” person in the matter relating to the recruitment of drivers in the department.

While the engineer followed the seniority list obtained from the employment office, he was reportedly asked to consider another list of candidates.

CB-CID sources said enquiries revealed that the engineer had indeed obtained seniority list from the employment office and had followed the due procedure in the matter of recruitment. Efforts were on to zero in on those who tried to influence their candidature in the process of recruitment.

Following reports that the then State Agriculture Minister ‘Agri’ S.S. Krishnamoorthy was involved, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalithaa stripped him of his party post. He was subsequently dropped from the Council of Ministers.

The aftermath of a suicide

S. Muthukumarasamy, an Executive Engineer in the Department of Agricultural Engineering, ended his life in February. It was alleged that Muthukumarasamy took the extreme step as he was under tremendous pressure to favour an “influential” person in the matter relating to the recruitment of drivers in the department. February 20 >> Senior engineer S. Muthukumarasamy commits suicide by jumping before train in Tirunelveli. >Read here March 8 >> Opposition demands CBI probe, case transferred to CBCID >Read here March 5 >> State Agriculture Minister S.S. Krishnamoorthy stripped of key party post and subsequently dropped from Council of Ministers >Read here March 24 >> It comes to light during investigation that the Income Tax Dept. had summoned Muthukumarasamy to appear on February 20, the day he ended his life. >Read here