Pudukkottai anti-mining activist run over by lorry, wife lodges complaint
It is said, that K Jagaber Ali (58), an environmental activist from Venkalur near Tirumayam in Pudukkottai who was returning from the mosque on Friday afternoon was hit by a lorry and died on the spot.
Representative Image (File)
TIRUCHY: An environmental activist died suspiciously in an accident and his kin complained to the police in Pudukkottai on Saturday.
It is said, that K Jagaber Ali (58), an environmental activist from Venkalur near Tirumayam in Pudukkottai who was returning from the mosque on Friday afternoon was hit by a lorry and died on the spot.
Tirumayam police rushed to the spot, retrieved the body and sent it to the GH. The police also registered a case of accidental death.
However, on Saturday, Jagaber Ali’s wife Mariyam complained to the Thirumayam police suspecting the cause of death.
According to her complaint, Jagaber Ali was an environmental activist who had been opposing the mining activities in and around Tirumayam by approaching the court as well as complaining to the officials and this had earned enmity from the owners of mines particularly a granite quarry functioning at Thulaiyanur near Valayanvayal in Tirumayam.
The complaint stated that Jageber Ali’s death was unnatural and his brothers Raja Mohammed and Ayub Khan are the eyewitnesses of the incident and sought the case to be altered as the suspicious death and proceed a fair investigation.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Environment Protection Committee Coordinator RS Mugilan issued a statement in which he stated that the deceased Jagaber Ali was continuously opposing the mining activities in Pudukkottai and hence he had earned enmity from the quarry owners.
“With the nature of the accident and the distance where the body was thrown after the accident could be ascertained that it was a planned murder and the police should initiate a fair investigation,” the statement added.