‘Book The Wind’: AIADMK Leader On Chennai Techie’s Death By Hoarding

In a shocking statement, veteran Tamil Nadu politician C Ponnaiyan said the wind was responsible for the death of a techie in a road accident. R Subashree, a software engineer, had died after being crushed by a tanker truck after an illegal hoarding put up by the AIADMK leader, Jayagopal , crashed down on her. Speaking to a local television channel, Ponnaiyan claimed “… if anyone has to be booked, it's the wind”. 

“The person who kept the banner did not push her to death. If any case has to be filed, if anyone has to be booked, it's the wind,” he claimed.

Earlier, the Chennai police arrested absconding AIADMK leader Jayagopal in connection with the death.  Jayagopal was on the run since September 13 after the police filed a case against him.

The Madras High Court had come down heavily on the AIADMK-led Tamil Nadu government over the issue of illegal hoardings on roads, endangering the lives of the people. "How many more litres of blood the state government needs to paint the roads with?" a division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee asked, while directing the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh as interim compensation to the victim’s family. The court also gave the liberty to recover the money from erring officials.

Terming the incident "sheer bureaucratic apathy", the high court said that it has lost faith in the Tamil Nadu government and asked whether state Chief Minister K Palaniswami would now issue a statement against such unauthorised hoardings.

The incident is a stark reminder of the 2017 accident. In 2017, Ragupathy Kandasamy, a 30-year-old IT professional, died in a similar manner in Coimbatore after his motorcycle rammed into a temporary wooden hoarding set up on the road by the AIADMK cadres for MGR centenary celebrations. 

In the same year, the Madras High Court passed an order banning hoarding of living persons, political parties alongside roads and pavement obstructing traffic and causing inconvenience to the pedestrians. Social activist ‘Traffic’ Ramasamy has sought action against those responsible for Subhasri’s death.  In his complaint, Ramasamy has urged the police to register a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code against the officials concerned.