Two weeks after Subhasri died, the man behind the illegal banners that killed the 23-year-old techie, AIADMK former councillor S Jayagopal was on Saturday remanded to judicial custody. Jayagopal was arrested from a resort in Krishnagiri district by the Chennai police on Friday.
As per reports, late on Friday Jayagopal was brought to Chennai and was produced before the magistrate in Alandur court on Saturday morning. Jayagopal also reportedly agreed in court that putting up hoardings was wrong. The magistrate then remanded the politician to judicial custody till October 11. The other accused in the case, Jayagopal’s brother-in-law Meganathan, is still at large.
A former councillor and the Assistant Secretary of the MGR Mandram, Kancheepuram East, Jayagopal had put up the hoardings to announce his son’s wedding reception. It was attended by several AIADMK leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.
Though Jayagopal initially defended his actions, he soon went absconding and had switched off his mobile phone to prevent being tracked by the police. He had also instructed his family members to follow suit and switch off their phones and remain untraceable. He has two cases against him – by the Pallikaranai police and by the St Thomas Mount Traffic Investigation Wing – for putting up hoardings and banners illegally without the required permissions from the Greater Chennai Corporation.
Subhasri, a 23-year-old engineer, was killed after a tanker lorry ran over her on the busy Thuraipakkam-Pallavaram radial road on September 12. She fell in the tanker lorry’s path, after a hoarding erected on the centre-median of the road fell onto her bike, making her lose control of the vehicle.
The death of the young woman had sparked massive outrage among the people and the Madras High Court also came down heavily on the administration for failing to abide by the law. Following the rap by the court, the Chennai Police initiated departmental action against Inspector Alagu from the Pallikaranai police station by putting his promotion on hold. He was supposed to have removed the banners immediately on spotting them since they were illegal.