Engineer's suicide: Court records statement of former Tamil Nadu minister's PA

MADURAI: The judicial magistrate court in Sankarankoil on Friday recorded the statement of a witness in a case relating to the suicide of senior agriculture engineer S Muthukumarasamy.
The Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department produced Poovaiah, who was a personal assistant of former Tamil Nadu agriculture minister S S ‘Agri’ Krishnamoorthy, before magistrate K Muralitharakannan at 12 noon.The court recorded his confessions and statements under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The in-camera recording of his statement lasted for over an hour.
Muthukumarasamy (57) committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train at Thatchanallur on February 20 as he was allegedly under pressure from the former agriculture minister and his associates over the appointments of seven drivers in Tirunelveli.
It has been alleged that former minister’s personal assistants Poovaiah and G Pandiyan had made calls to Muthukumarasamy.
It may be recalled that Krishnamoorthy and chief engineer of the agriculture department M Senthil, who were arrested on April 4, have been lodged in the Palayamkottai Central Prison.