Lawyer, 57, held for pocketing accident solatium amount

Coimbatore: The CB-CID police have arrested a

lawyer

on charges of pocketing the compensation ordered by the Dharapuram sub-court to a couple from Tirupur through fraudulent means a few years ago.

A CB-CID team led by deputy superintendent of police P Sivakumar arrested the lawyer, Murugesan,

57

, from Mylapore in Chennai on January 8.

The case relates to the death of Shanmugasundaram, 22, in a road accident involving a TNSTC bus in Tirupur district in 2011. His parents Balasubramanian and Eswari filed a Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Original Petition (MCOP) case before the Dharapuram sub-court seeking compensation.

The court ordered a compensation of Rs 3.75 lakh to the victim’s parents in 2015. As parents did not receive the amount, they filed a petition in 2019 before the same court seeking the compensation.

During the trial, judge M Dharmaprabhu found that Murugesan had pocketed the compensation by making a man and a woman impersonate the victim’s parents. He had also changed the photo of the parents in the petition filed by them with the help of Baskaran, who had worked in the court as a clerk at the time.

Dharmaprabhu lodged a police complaint in 2019. Alarmed over this, Murugesan met the parents and handed over the money to them.

He also moved the Madras high court and obtained an anticipatory bail. But soon, the bail was quashed.

The CB-CID registered a fresh case on December 12, 2021, based on the direction of the high court, and arrested Murugesan and Baskaran. A search is on to nab the man and the woman who impersonated the victim’s parents.