TIRUPATHUR: Tragedy struck Vaniyampadi on Tuesday morning when three school students, S Rafiq (13), R Surya (11), and R Vijay (13), riding bicycles to school were killed on the spot when a speeding SUV knocked them down on the service road of Chennai-Bangalore National Highway.
According to sources, brothers Vijay and Surya of Vaniyampadi’s Valaiyampattu village were riding a bicycle to Government Higher Secondary School in Girisamuthram along with Rafiq, of the same village on another cycle, on the service road.
Around 8.30 am, an SUV in which four college students were on their way to Yelagiri from Vellore took a left turn from the highway to enter the service road. The driver of the car, Santhosh (20), suddenly lost control and ran over the students, killing them on the spot.
Chief Minister M K Stalin extended his condolences and announced a solatium of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the victims. Revenue minister E V Velu also offered Rs 1 lakh to each of the families.
‘Students had to travel 3km as school in Valaiyampattu village dilapidated’
Police sent the bodies to Vaniyambadi GH for postmortem. Tirupathur Collector D Baskara Pandian, Vellore DIG Muthuswamy, and SP Rajesh Kanna went to the spot. Police said, the driver of the car, Santhosh (20), is a third-year BSc (Computer Science) student of a private college in Vellore.
Police have booked him under IPC Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304 (a) (causing death by negligence). He was produced before a Vellore magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody. After postmortem, the students’ bodies were taken to their native places for last rites. Several villagers confronted Tirupathur Collector D Baskara Pandian while he was inspecting the spot.
They said they have to send their children to the Girisamuthiram school located three km away due to absence of infrastructure facilities in the school in Valaiyampattu village. It has 193 students but only two classrooms are in good condition. Despite repeated requests to renovate the building, authorities did not take action, villagers said. Collector Baskara Pandian chose another building in the area and ordered students to be moved there temporarily.