Conman fooled by a bogus escort service; detained

MADURAI: On Friday morning, a special sub-inspector of police who was assigned to Thanjavur South police station was killed when the car he was riding in collided with a tree close to Thanjavur. The victim, Sankar, 50, was traveling to provide escort to R Vaithilingam, the state minister for housing and urban development, who had moved into Thanjavur on Thursday. In the Thanjavur Arms Division jeep, head constable Kaviarasan and policeman Gunasekaran drove alongside Sankar. Vaithilingam typically travels to his birthplace of Orathanadu on a Friday evening and spends the weekend attending meetings in Thanjavur. Vaithilingam, however, had already traveled to his homeland this week on Thursday; as a result, the escort squad was traveling to Orathanadu, 23 km from Thanjavur, to follow the minister. Gunasekaran attempted to pass a little truck as the escort car approached Orathanadu when he noticed a calf crossing the road in front of him. Gunasekaran quickly passed the little truck and veered to the right to try to avoid colliding with it head-on. But before he realized it, he had already struck the tree, according to an eyewitness who was nearby grazing his cattle. Kaviarasan and Gunasekaran, who were hurt, were sent to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital while Sankar was declared dead at the scene. A distraught minister first went to the scene of the collision before making his way to the hospital, where it was reported that the police officers were not in danger. After comforting the injured police officers, the minister went to the deceased’s home and laid a wreath. Sankar, whose wife and daughter are still alive, is from the Tiruvarur district.