CHENNAI: A fatal car accident in Thirumangalam, in which a 19-year-old boy on a two-wheeler was killed, has been altered to a murder case after preliminary inquiries revealed the driver of the car intentionally knocked him down. The case was transferred to Thirumangalam law and order police from the traffic investigation wing.
According to a police source, the deceased, Nithin Sai of Otteri, was a third-year student at a college in Mylapore. On Monday night, Nithin went to Thirumangalam for the birthday celebration of his friend. After dinner, Nithin and his friends Venkatesh, Mohan, and Abhishek were heading home on two two-wheelers. Nithin was riding pillion with Abhishek. Around 11:30pm, a car with four passengers rammed into them and sped away. While Abhishek sustained injuries, Nithin died on the spot. Venkatesh and Mohan, who were ahead of them, informed the police.
They were then taken to the Government Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital. While Abhishek was admitted for treatment, Nithin’s body was sent for postmortem. The Thirumangalam Traffic Investigation Wing (TIW) police registered a case and started an inquiry.
After analysing CCTV footage and inquiring with Nithin’s friends, the police found that an unidentified group of men from a college in Nungambakkam had threatened them just a few hours before the accident. The police said that Venkatesh was confronted by the gang for talking to one of their female friends. Nithin was not directly involved in the conflict, the police said
Meanwhile, Nithin’s family and relatives staged a protest outside the Kilpauk GH demanding the case be altered to murder and all the accused to be arrested.
The police said they have identified one of the suspects as Chandru. His grandfather is a DMK functionary, the police said.
Further investigation is underway.