Coimbatore activists warned this illegal arch was dangerous, now a young man is dead

The arch was erected for the MGR Centenary celebrations in Coimbatore, and the rider reportedly died after he rammed into it and then a truck ran over him.
Coimbatore activists warned this illegal arch was dangerous, now a young man is dead
Coimbatore activists warned this illegal arch was dangerous, now a young man is dead
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A 31-year-old man died in Coimbatore on Saturday morning after he reportedly rammed into an illegal wooden arch erected for MGR Centenary celebrations and then a tipper truck which was driving on the wrong side of the road ran over him. However, the Coimbatore police claim that the man died only because the truck ran over him.

The accident happened around 2:30am on Saturday when K Ragupathi, a software engineer, was on his way to Palani. He had come from USA about 10 days ago to meet a prospective bride in Coimbatore. “The accident took place on Saturday early morning, it happened due to the wooden cut-out that had been placed, first he hit that and fell, then a lorry ran over him. He was on his way to visit Murugan temple in Palani. He was just 31-years-old, this has happened because of the negligence of the government. The MGR celebration is on December 3, why have they put the cut-outs on November 25 itself? Action against the people who put these cut-outs,” said Karthik, Ragupathi’s family friend.

He also added that Ragupathi was supposed to return to USA on Sunday morning.

According to a press release issued by the Coimbatore city commissioner K. Periaiah, it stated that the CCTV footage shows that a truck coming from the wrong side of the road had ran over Ragupathi on Saturday early morning. The truck driver, Mohan, who works for the Coimbatore Integrated Waste Management Company Private Limited was arrested by the police. The truck was coming from Ramanathapuram district to Coimbatore. However, the press release does not mention anything about the wooden arch that was placed on the Avinashi Road.

The body was sent to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. The body was given to the family on Saturday afternoon.

Corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan clarified that no permission was taken to install all these wooden structures. “These structures will be removed in the next 1-2 hours. I also wish to clarify that we have not given any official permission and have initiated action as soon as we have come to know about.”

According to sources, the wooden arch which led to the death of Raghupathi was removed by the corporation.

Singanallur MLA N Karthick of the DMK has filed a petition with the district collector and the city police commissioner regarding the incident.

Aram Selvaraj, a social worker told media, “On Friday, we saw that many wooden arches were being placed on the middle of the road. We came to meet the commissioner also regarding this but he was busy in a meeting. So, we took videos and pictures and informed police and traffic police about it. We were scared that it would lead to an accident as it was in the middle of the road. And on Saturday morning, this incident happened. He is my friend’s son. For such an incident not to happen again, the corporation must remove all the wooden arches on the Avinashi Road,” he said.

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