Ambur:
A 27-year old man set himself on fire here on Sunday after police allegedly detained his two-wheeler for violating lockdown curbs and he has been hospitalised, police said. When the man, later identified as Mugilan, came to a key intersection of the town on his motorcycle, police personnel questioned him at a checkpost for flouting curbs by roaming around.
Later, they detained his vehicle, as is the norm for lockdown violations and said it would be handed over to him later. The man, a worker with a private factory, had however opposed it and urged police personnel to give it back and later left the spot.
After a brief while, he returned and again demanded the policemen to return his vehicle to him. “He was under the influence of alcohol and though we assured him that we will give his vehicle back tomorrow, he all of a sudden set himself ablaze,” an official with the Ambur town police said.
The youth, who sustained burn injuries was immediately rushed to the Ambur General Hospital and was later admitted at the Christian Medical College Hospital at nearby Vellore for specialty treatment, he said.
A senior official told P T I that five police personnel involved in vehicle checking have been transferred to the district headquarters in Tirupattur to ensure a fair enquiry and a deputy police superintendent level official would look into the incident.
“An FIR of accidental fire has been registered,” he said. Today is the second successive Sunday of “an intense lockdown” this month without any relaxations across Tamil Nadu.
The initiative is part of measures to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Till date, as per state police data, 6,30,662 vehicles have been seized across Tamil Nadu cumulatively for violation of curbs and in total, Rs 17.84 crore levied as fine from violators.
