Sack ministers who didn't help dying cop: Jayalalithaa

Former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Saturday, demanded the sacking of two ministers for not rushing to the rescue of a policeman who bled to death after an attack.

Sub-Inspector R Vetrivel was hacked by a criminal gang in broad daylight on Thursday in Tirunelveli district. As he lay on the road bleeding, a convoy of ministers M R K Paneerselvam and T P M Mohideen Khan reached there.

TV footage showed the ministers and other officials, including police personnel, waiting for an ambulance, without bothering to shift him to a hospital. Vetrivel bled to death soon after.

Jayalalithaa said, "The inhuman act of the two ministers is an example of the DMK government's general attitude."

Tirunelveli district collector M Jayaraman told reporters that the fear of unexploded bombs lying near Vetrivel and the fear of a fresh attack made the ministers and officials nervous.

"The sub-inspector was injured after being attacked by country bombs and deadly weapons. There were some unexploded bombs near him and some smoke. The policemen accompanying the two ministers were chasing the gang members. There was a delay of only 10 minutes in taking him to the hospital," he said.

Additional DGP K Radhakrishnan is in Tirunelveli to oversee the investigations. Seven people have been arrested for the murder including a retired policeman. The police say Vetrivel was not the intended target of the killers, it was sub-inspector, D Sivasubramanian.

The police said it was Sivasubramanian's wife and her relatives who planned the attack. Police are hunting for Sivagami, the wife, and her relatives who are absconding.

The incident triggered the transfer of Tamil Nadu's director general of police K P Jain. Letika Saran has succeeded him.