Salem, Tamil Nadu: A man allegedly hurled a chappal (slipper) and a stone at Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, who had come to pay respects to Dalit JNU scholar J Muthukrishnan, who had allegedly committed suicide at a friend's house in New Delhi on March 13. His body was brought to Tamil Nadu's Salem district today.
As the Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Radhakrishnan, was addressing the media, some students and activists started raising slogans against the BJP-led central government. A man then allegedly hurled a chappal at the Union minister, which, however, missed the target. The police have taken the person into custody.
Mr Radhakrishnan called the incident as "undesirable" and asked the Tamil Nadu BJP unit not to make a big issue out of it.
Suspecting foul play, the family of Mr Muthukrishnan had demanded a probe into his death on Tuesday following which a five-member medical board was constituted to conduct the autopsy. The preliminary report by AIIMS doctors stated that Mr Muthukrishnan died due to hanging.
A judicial probe will be initiated based on the autopsy report, Mr Radhakrishnan told reporters.
Mr Muthukrishnan also said that he will not accept (accusations) that this (death) has happened "because of the BJP coming to power".
These incidents "have been happening at many places for the last 60 years", he claimed. "In Mr Muthukrishnan's death, I felt like having lost my own younger brother," Mr Radhakrishnan said.
Salem collector Sampath handed over a cheque of Rs 3 lakh by the state government to Mr Jeevanandam, Mr Muthukrishnan's father. But state BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan condemned the chappal-throwing incident.
An M.Phil student, Mr Muthukrishnan, who was staying at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Jhelum hostel and said to be at the forefront of a students' movement following Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula's death, had severely criticised the JNU's admission policy in a Facebook post days before his alleged suicide.
(With inputs from PTI)
As the Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, Radhakrishnan, was addressing the media, some students and activists started raising slogans against the BJP-led central government. A man then allegedly hurled a chappal at the Union minister, which, however, missed the target. The police have taken the person into custody.
Mr Radhakrishnan called the incident as "undesirable" and asked the Tamil Nadu BJP unit not to make a big issue out of it.
A judicial probe will be initiated based on the autopsy report, Mr Radhakrishnan told reporters.
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These incidents "have been happening at many places for the last 60 years", he claimed. "In Mr Muthukrishnan's death, I felt like having lost my own younger brother," Mr Radhakrishnan said.
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An M.Phil student, Mr Muthukrishnan, who was staying at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Jhelum hostel and said to be at the forefront of a students' movement following Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula's death, had severely criticised the JNU's admission policy in a Facebook post days before his alleged suicide.
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