Kallakurichi Student's Murder: 14 Arrested, SC/ST Act Added in Probe
Police in Coimbatore have arrested 14 students in connection with the murder of K. Amuthan, a 19-year-old third-year undergraduate student of a private engineering college, who died on August 10 following an alleged assault at Othakalmandapam near Coimbatore.
Amuthan, a resident of Kallakurichi, was a student of Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology. According to police, the arrests were made over a span of six days, with the latest apprehension on Sunday, August 16. The accused are aged between 17 and 21 and hail from various districts across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Tirupattur. Except for three of them, all are said to be students of the same college, mostly in their final year.
The police have also informed the jurisdictional court that they are investigating the case invoking Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as Amuthan belonged to a Scheduled Caste community. This provision was not included in the initial First Information Report filed by the Chettipalayam police soon after the murder. The inclusion of the Act means that the case will now be tried in a special court, and it also provides for enhanced penalties upon conviction.
According to the police, the murder was an alleged act of retaliation. A group of students, including Amuthan and three others, reportedly trespassed into a rented accommodation at Poonga Nagar around 5.30 a.m. on August 10, where some of the accused were staying. The group allegedly assaulted the occupants with a cricket bat, stump and knife, and also took away a mobile phone belonging to one of the students named Deepak. Following this, the group that was attacked, along with a few others, allegedly assaulted Amuthan around 8.30 a.m. the same day. Amuthan later succumbed to his injuries in the afternoon.
In a separate case, the police have arrested two individuals, identified as Udhayakumar and Haridas, in connection with the earlier assault and alleged extortion. The investigation into that case is ongoing. The police have not yet determined the exact motive for the initial assault, and inquiries are continuing.
The murder has raised questions about campus safety and the handling of disputes among students. Local residents and student groups have demanded a thorough investigation. Police have said that all legal procedures are being followed and that evidence is being gathered.
The 14 accused arrested in the murder case are: a 17-year-old student from Tiruvallur district (name withheld being a minor), B. Aramudhan (20) of Panruti, M. Aravind (21) of Manamadurai, S. Siva Rohith (20) of Needamangalam, Mani Balu (20) of Kunnam, M. Santhosh (19) of Manamadurai, K. Sriram (21) and Lalith Aditya (20) of Madurai, Harish Pandian (20) of Thirunagar, B. Sachin (19) of Royappanpatti, B. Pradeep (20) of Srivilliputhur, A. Gowtham (19) of Ariyankuppam, Tharun Kumar (20) of Natrampalli and P. Thirumoorthy (20) of Srirangam.
Of these, Harish Pandian, Lalith Aditya and Pradeep are not students of the college where Amuthan studied. The police have not yet recovered the weapons used in the assault. They have also not confirmed whether any of the accused have criminal records previously. Further investigation is underway.
