CHENNAI: A 40-year-old man was arrested after he mowed down his father with a lorry over a property dispute in Oragadam on Monday morning. The deceased Ethiraj (75) from Deveriyampakkam village was a farmer, said the police. Ethiraj has three sons and a daughter. Ethiraj lived with his wife, while his children were living in nearby areas.
Ethiraj’s youngest son Ramachandran, who has a transport business reached his father’s house on Sunday night and demanded his share in the property. “Ethiraj told Ramachandran that the property will be divided only after his death.”
This led to a verbal altercation, which turned ugly and turned into a fistfight. Family members and the neighbours pacified both of them and Ramachandran returned to his house. On Monday at around 6 am, Ethiraj was on his way to the farm on Sankarapuram road.
“Ramachandran was driving a lorry loaded with sand on the same road. On seeing his father, he allegedly mowed him down. Ethiraj died on the spot,” said a police officer. Ramachandran abandoned the lorry some 500m away from the spot and fled, added the police.
Passersby informed Oragadam police, who registered a case and sent the body to Chengalpattu Government Hospital for postmortem. After an investigation, police nabbed Ramachandaran. “He claimed his father saw the lorry and jumped in front of it.
However, eyewitnesses said the vehicle deliberately changed course and ran over the elderly man,” said the police. Ramachandran was booked for murder and after being presented in court was remanded to judicial custody.