Chennai: Biker dies trying to duck policemen's lathi blow

Chennai: A 19-year-old college student riding triplet with his friends was killed after cops involved in vehicle-check threw a lathi on him to thwart his attempt to evade the cops, on Ormes Road,  Kilpauk, during the small hours on Thursday. The deceased identified as L. Mukilan, (19), resident of Nammalvarpet, Ayanavaram, and first year student from an arts college from the city, was riding with his two neighbourhood friends - Santhosh and Kishore, when the mishap occurred around 2.40 am.

Sources said Mukilan swerved the bike away when constable Purushothaman (Kilpauk police) tried to block them while home guard Siva leaped and hit Mukilan with lathi causing the biker to lose control. Mukilan who was riding without helmet fell down sustaining grievous head injuries. The cops rushed him to KMCH where doctors declared him dead on arrival. A WhatsApp message too went viral sparking outrage in social media.  Kilpauk Police had registered a case of unnatural death under the provisions of CrPC and forwarded it to RDO to inquire.

“Mukilan went out on his bike on Wednesday night telling me that he was going to eat out. His mother told me that he had gone for a night show. At 3 am, I woke up to find that he hadn't come home. Two hours later, a boy came home and told me that Mukilan was in an accident and admitted to KMCH. A few minutes later, cops too delivered the same message at my doorsteps. We don’t know what happened. Some say that the police using lathi on him led to the accident. Cops are not saying much about it,” Mukilan's father Leela Krishnan told DC.
Mukilan is survived by his father who runs a barber shop, mother and a techie-sister.

Though the instruction of the city Police top brass is clear on not to use of lathis during vehicle check, the said cop-duo had resorted to the use of the same. The issue is taken up for an internal probe. Earlier on November 7, two college students were grievously injured on Kamarajar Salai near Light House when a police constable used force to stop them for not wearing helmet.