VILLUPURAM: The branch secretary of TVK at Virpattu village near Gingee was found dead at his house on Monday afternoon. A suicide note recovered from his pocket claimed former minister V Senthil Balaji was responsible for the Karur stampede that claimed the lives of 41 people.
The deceased has been identified as V Ayyappan (50), a daily-wage worker, living in Chennai with his wife A Ananthi (40), son A Ashok (25) and daughter A Pavithra (23).
Speaking to TNIE, neighbours said Ayyappan, a former fan club member of Vijay, was seen disturbed following the stampede. “He was continuously watching the videos and news items related to the incident,” they said. It was his mother, V Muniyammal, who saw him dead inside the room.
Sources said the letter retrieved from Ayyappan’s shirt pocket said the authorities provided inadequate security for Vijay’s Karur event due to the “pressure exerted by Senthil Balaji, as he wanted to disgrace TVK”. The note also demanded an investigation and imprisonment of the former minister. The police have seized the letter and his mobile phone.
Ayyappan’s body was sent to Mundiyambakkam government hospital for postmortem.
(To overcome suicidal thoughts, contact helpline 104 or Sneha helpline 044- 24640050)