SALEM: The death of a casual labourer a day after his motorcycle allegedly hit a car belonging to paralympic gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu near Danishpet in the district has raised many eyebrows.
Following the incident, the relatives of M Sathish Kumar (19) on Sunday sought an investigation against the gold medallist in high jump at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The Deevattipatti Police said Kumar, a resident of Periyavadagampatti near Danishpet, was riding his motorcycle in the locality on Saturday, when he accidentally hit the car parked near Periyavadagampatti Mariamman Temple.
When Mariyappan learnt about it, he along with two of his relatives allegedly went to the house of Kumar and sought Rs 12,000 for damaging the car. As Kumar and family sought time to pay up, Mariyappan and relatives allegedly grabbed the former’s mobile phone and told him to collect it after paying the money.
However, around 4 pm on Sunday, Kumar was found dead on a railway track at Danishpet with severe head injuries. Other parts of the body also had injuries.
On information, Kumar’s relatives rushed to the spot and shifted the body to his house without informing police.
Soon police rushed to the spot and sent the body to the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
The relatives of the deceased later alleged foul play in the death and urged the police to inquire Mariyappan in this regard.
Police sources told Express that they could come to a conclusion on whether it was a suicide or murder, only after the postmortem report was out.
“We have not received any complaint till 10 pm today (on Sunday). Once we get one, we will look into the allegations raised by the relatives of the deceased,” police sources said.
Mariyappan was not available for comment as his mobile phone was switched off.