Tirunelvelli, Tamil Nadu:
The two Tamil Nadu ministers who stood by and watched while an injured policeman bled to death after gangsters had cut off his legs, stayed away from his last rites, which were held at his hometown of Sankaran Kovil.
The nationwide outrage over the incident seems to have had little effect on state Health Minister is M. R. K. Panneerselvam and Sports Minister Thiru T. P. M. Mohideen Khan.
Only a DSP was there to lay a wreath on the Sub Inspector's body.
Meanwhile, three days after the incident, the Tamil Nadu government is yet to announce a compensation for the family of the policeman who died while on duty.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly did not take any note of the incident on Friday. But after the nationwide outrage, it came up in Saturday's session with Health Minister Paneerselvam denying charges of negligence. He said they had called for an ambulance but when they realised it would take too long, they decided to use one of the convoy vehicles to transport the inspector. (Read: Minister refutes charge of insensitivity)
However, politicians across the spectrum have condemned the incident, saying politicians are meant to set an example. AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa has even asked Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to sack the two ministers. (Watch: Politicians condemn TN ministers' apathy)
The two ministers were travelling in a convoy when they saw the injured and bleeding policeman, R Vetrivel, crying out for help. The 44-year-old's legs were chopped off by gangsters. The convoy did stop but failed to provide any real assistance until it was just too late. Neither of the ministers stepped out of their cars. (Read & Watch: Policeman attacked on road, ministers stare from cars, don't help)
With them were bureaucrats - a Collector and a Health Secretary. The Collector, M Jayaraman, got out of his car after dithering for eight minutes. But nobody offered to take the wounded inspector to hospital. Finally, the Collector phoned for an ambulance, which didn't arrive.
Twenty minutes later, the cop was placed in one of the cars (the ministers still didn't offer theirs). The policeman died en route to the hospital. (Watch: We had to protect the ministers first, say police)
After the ambulance was gone, the Health Minister finally got out of his car. When contacted later for a comment, he angrily asked the NDTV correspondent to leave him alone.
The senior bureaucrat, VK Sunburaj, who was in the convoy, said there's nothing wrong with what transpired. "We did our best possible in that situation. It takes twenty minutes for ambulance to come...Police did a good job," he said to NDTV in a phone interview.
The video was shot by a free lance cameraperson, who was covering the ministers' visit, not an NDTV employee. It contains disturbing images and is not suitable for children.
The nationwide outrage over the incident seems to have had little effect on state Health Minister is M. R. K. Panneerselvam and Sports Minister Thiru T. P. M. Mohideen Khan.
Only a DSP was there to lay a wreath on the Sub Inspector's body.
Meanwhile, three days after the incident, the Tamil Nadu government is yet to announce a compensation for the family of the policeman who died while on duty.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly did not take any note of the incident on Friday. But after the nationwide outrage, it came up in Saturday's session with Health Minister Paneerselvam denying charges of negligence. He said they had called for an ambulance but when they realised it would take too long, they decided to use one of the convoy vehicles to transport the inspector. (Read: Minister refutes charge of insensitivity)
However, politicians across the spectrum have condemned the incident, saying politicians are meant to set an example. AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa has even asked Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to sack the two ministers. (Watch: Politicians condemn TN ministers' apathy)
The two ministers were travelling in a convoy when they saw the injured and bleeding policeman, R Vetrivel, crying out for help. The 44-year-old's legs were chopped off by gangsters. The convoy did stop but failed to provide any real assistance until it was just too late. Neither of the ministers stepped out of their cars. (Read & Watch: Policeman attacked on road, ministers stare from cars, don't help)
With them were bureaucrats - a Collector and a Health Secretary. The Collector, M Jayaraman, got out of his car after dithering for eight minutes. But nobody offered to take the wounded inspector to hospital. Finally, the Collector phoned for an ambulance, which didn't arrive.
Twenty minutes later, the cop was placed in one of the cars (the ministers still didn't offer theirs). The policeman died en route to the hospital. (Watch: We had to protect the ministers first, say police)
After the ambulance was gone, the Health Minister finally got out of his car. When contacted later for a comment, he angrily asked the NDTV correspondent to leave him alone.
The senior bureaucrat, VK Sunburaj, who was in the convoy, said there's nothing wrong with what transpired. "We did our best possible in that situation. It takes twenty minutes for ambulance to come...Police did a good job," he said to NDTV in a phone interview.
The video was shot by a free lance cameraperson, who was covering the ministers' visit, not an NDTV employee. It contains disturbing images and is not suitable for children.
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