PERAMBALUR: The Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Perambalur sentenced two drivers to over one year in jail for causing the accident leading to the death of newly appointed state minister N Mariyam Pichai near Padalur in Perambalur district in May 2011.
The 60-year-old N Mariyam Pichai hailed from Sangiliyandapuram in Tiruchy. He had defeated DMK’s KN Nehru in the Tiruchy West constituency in the 2011 Tamil Nadu assembly election. Following this, he was appointed as the Minister of Environment and Pollution Control.
On May 23, 2011, the minister was heading in an SUV to Chennai to attend the oath-taking ceremony of legislators. The car was driven by S Anandhan (34) from Mogappair in Chennai.
While trying to overtake a container lorry near Thiruvilakurichi branch road near Padalur in Perambalur district on the Tiruchy-Chennai National Highway, Anandhan lost control over the car and collided with the rear of the lorry.
Minister Mariyam Pichai, who was seriously injured, died on the way to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchy. Also, four people including a driver were injured.
Padalur police registered a case against car driver Anandhan and lorry driver Niyamatullah from Andhra Pradesh.
The case was transferred to the CBCID unit in Tiruchy in May 2011. The trial was underway at the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Perambalur.
During the hearing on Monday, Judge C Sankar awarded a jail term of one year and four months each to both Anandhan and Niyamatullah and imposed a fine of Rs 3,500 on Anandhan and a fine of Rs 4,000 on Niyamatullah.