Chennai: After a long struggle, the mortal remains of the land mafia don, Sridhar Dhanapal, were brought to the City around 10 am on Sunday, ten days after he died in a Cambodian hospital. However, his family could take the body out of the airport only after another eight hours had elapsed.
Airport sources said that immigration officials stalled the clearance process, citing the reason that the original clearance documents from the Indian Embassy in Cambodia had not been provided.
The advocates who were assisting Sridhar’s daughter Dhanalakshmi had provided photocopies of the documents, which the officials refused to accept.
Sridhar’s son stays out of India due to lookout notice
Sridhar’s son, who assisted the family right upto Malaysia, is in possession of the documents and he didn’t travel to India as there is a lookout notice against his name, sources said. Meanwhile, around 7.05 pm, clearance was given after which the body was moved in an ambulance to the Chengelpet Medical College hospital.
Kancheepuram police sources said that a post-mortem is expected to be conducted to ascertain the actual cause of death. A DNA test will also be conducted, officials said. Sridhar’s daughter S. Dhanalakshmi petitioned the Kancheepuram district administration last Saturday to help bring her father’s body home and later also filed a petition in the Madras High Court, which directed concerned authorities to facilitate the process.
According to the certificate produced by the family from the Khema International Polyclinic, Sridhar received emergency care from the medical team on October 4 at 10.05 pm and passed away at 10.35 pm. The cause of death was mentioned as sudden cardiac arrest.
Sridhar’s family members who visited Cambodia were facing issues in facilitation to bring back the body as the Indian embassy demanded proof of Sridhar’s arrival into Cambodia. The fugitive, who has over 43 cases and a warrant against him, used a fake Sri Lankan passport to to travel to the southeast Asian country.
