TENKASI: Relatives of the van driver, who was allegedly beaten to death by Sankarankovil police on Friday night, continued their protest against the police brutality for the fourth consecutive day, and refused to receive his body from the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH) on Monday. The driver, M Murugan of Vadakku Pudur, was allegedly attacked by three police personnel in Sankarankovil after his vehicle allegedly hit an auto-rickshaw.
According to sources, the accused police officers stamped Murugan on his chest which led to his collapse inside the van. The personnel further made the passengers alight from the van and got another person to drive the vehicle to Sankarankovil town police station. Later, Murugan was taken to a private hospital by his relatives, where he was declared brought dead, sources said.
After this, the deceased's relatives and members of Devendrakula Vellalar community staged a protest in front of the police station on Friday night. From the next day onwards, they continued their protest in Vadakku Pudur village demanding the arrest of the accused police officers, compensation to the family members of Murugan and a job for his wife.
Meanwhile, Murugan's body has been kept in Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital after postmortem. However, his relatives said that they will not receive the body until their demands are met. Meanwhile, CPM district secretary U Muthupandian petitioned Superintendent of Police TP Sureshkumar demanding action against the police personnel.