'Who killed Ragu?' Madras HC orders for removal of illegal hoardings in Coimbatore

The order was based on a PIL filed a DMK MLA alleging that Raghupathy’s death was a result of his crashing into an illegal hoarding.

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Five days after the death of a 32-year-old engineer in Coimbatore, the Madras High Court has ordered for removal of all illegal hoardings in the district ahead of the MGR birth centenary celebrations. The order was based on a PIL filed by DMK's Singanallur MLA N Karthik alleging that Raghunath's death was a result of his crashing into one such illegal hoarding.

According to the petitioner, the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee who was hearing the case demanded evidence of the permission that the AIADMK party workers claimed to have obtained for putting up the banners. When their counsel could produce only a recommendation, she ordered for all hoardings to be removed.

"As per the government's counsel, there were 243 hoardings put up for the MGR centenary celebrations," says MLA N Karthik who filed the petition. "But once the Judge came to know that they didn't have permission, she observed that Raghupathy's death could have indeed been a result of the illegal hoarding," he adds.

The DMK alleges that the hoarding put up by the AIADMK covered over half the road where the accident took place.

Raghunath, a techie, was back home in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore from the United States to meet his prospective bride. He died on Saturday morning after he reportedly crashed his bike into the illegal wooden hoarding. As Ragupathy’s bike hit the structure and he fell from his bike, a truck ran him over.

The engineer was to return to the US over the weekend and was not wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. He planned to park his bike at a bus stand and take a bus to the temple, according to reports.

The Coimbatore police, however, claim that Raghupathy died because a truck ran over him. Mohan, the truck driver was arrested by the police following the accident.