CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition filed by sandalwood smuggler Veerappan’s nephew, seeking a Rs 20 lakh compensation for the alleged custodial death of his father G Arjunan, a close aide of the forest brigand.
Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy on Monday rejected the plea saying it was filed nearly 30 years after Arjunan allegedly disappeared.
The petitioner, A Sathish Kumar of Anjetti Taluk in Krishnagiri, alleged that Arjunan went missing soon after Eriyur police lodged a case against him. Cases were registered under Indian Arms Act, Indian Explosives Act and TADA in 1993, the petitioner said.
He took all the efforts to trace his father after he grew up but they didn’t yield any result, he said. It was submitted by the authorities concerned in their response to a related case that the Natrampalayam village administrative officer had certified that Arjunan was dead. Both the Tamil Nadu and the Karnataka police withheld the information about his father’s death and tortured him indirectly by making him run from pillar to post, Sathish alleged.
The Krishnagiri collector rejected his representation seeking compensation on March 11, 2024, he added in the petition.
Stressing that he and his sister were in dire straits after losing both parents, he pleaded the court to issue directions to the authorities concerned to pay them an aid by considering his representation and hold a probe into the mysterious death of his father.