Facing flak after man’s death, Corpn releases CCTV clip of him developing seizure

A 56-year-old man died after he developed a seizure and fell into a pothole inundated with rain water mixed with sewage in Kodambakkam on Wednesday morning.

The deceased G Narasimhan of Mahalingauram was driver by profession.

Around 7 am, he walked towards the Mahalingapuram main road under the Liberty flyover in Kodambakkam to meet his employer, but since he was asked to wait until the car reaches the spot, Narasimhan decided to return home. However, while crossing a pothole in front of Hotel Pratap Plaza, he suddenly fell into the pothole filled with murky water.

He was rescued by passersby and rushed to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, but he was declared brought dead. While police initially suspected that he could have slipped and fallen into pothole, Chennai Corporation collected the CCTV footage from the neighbourhood and released it to the media in which he could be seen developing a seizure and collapsing into the pothole.

Police said that there were no external injuries on him and he was conscious even after the fall. The Corporation also has released a video of Narasimhan's wife Kanniyammal stating that her husband spoke to her after he was rescued from the pothole. Both police and Corporation are of the view that he could have died of cardiac arrest and not due to the fall. The post-mortem will be done at KMCH and the doctors will ascertain the reason for death, said Corporation Commissioner Prakash. Meanwhile, the potholes in the entire stretch were levelled by the Corporation workers and stagnant water was drained out.

Nungambakkam police have registered a case and further investigation is on.