Arch was not cause of Raghu’s death: CM

Coimbatore: Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the giant arch erected by AIADMK men on Avinashi Road was not the cause of the accidental death of a software engineer.

Talking to reporters at the city airport on Friday, the chief minister said video evidence in the form of a CCTV footage regarding the accident was submitted in the court. “The death of Raghupathy is saddening. But the DMK is deliberately spreading false information to defame AIADMK,” he said. The death was an accident and the CCTV footage would establish that in the court, he said.

Raghupathy, 32, who works in the US, had come down to his native Coimbatore to meet his prospective bride. Raghupathy was run over by a truck after his motorcycle rammed a giant arch on Avinashi Road on November 25.

While hearing a PIL filed by DMK MLA N Karthik, the Madras high court bench, comprising chief justice Indira Banerjee and justice M Sundar, had said the perusal of photographs and other materials made it appear that the accident may have been averted but for the arches abutting into the road.

However, the chief minister said the DMK was politicizing the death of Raghupathy unable to digest the success of MGR centenary birth celebrations held across the state. He defended the celebrations stating that the AIADMK was not “wasting” the government reserves like the DMK did during classical Tamil meet.

“Stalin hoped that AIADMK would suffer a split. Since his expectations were belied, he is spreading false information in desperation,” Palaniswami said.