By Express News Service

TIRUNELVELI: Three men who consumed 'herbal' medicines for diabetes and blood pressure died today, one after another, at a village near Tenkasi town in Tirunelveli district located in southern Tamil Nadu. One of them was the medicine man himself.

According to police sources, one Muthupandi, aged 50, who had been practicing traditional medicine in the villages had given a herbal concoction to a few persons in the Alagappapuram village this morning.

He had claimed the medicine was a cure for diabetes and blood pressure.

Muthupandi also consumed the medicine himself. But soon Muthupandi and two others swooned. They were taken to the Tenkasi Government Hospital where all three died within a few hours.

The two other deceased villagers were identified by police as Irulandi (32) and Balasubramanian (42). One more person from the same village too fell ill and was referred to the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital in the district's headquarters.

Muthupandi, who police said had been claiming to practice traditional medicine, was a resident of the Tenkasi town, renowned for the Kasiviswanathar temple known as the 'Kasi of the south'.

Muthupandi had been visiting the Alagappapuram village located about seven kilometers from the town in the past one week, claiming to have herbal cures for common ailments.

While police doubt the credentials of Muthupandi, it is not yet clear if he was a fraud or if he possessed any professional qualification in any of the traditional medicine streams. The police are investigating and autopsy of the bodies will commence after the legal formalities.