CHENNAI: The body of 39- year-old Tamil Ayyappa devotee, D Santhavelu, who succumbed to burns at the Kilpauk medical college hospital here on Sunday, after being scalded by boiling water at Pamba in Kerala, was forcibly taken away from his residence by officials with the assistance of the police and cremated at Ambattur on Wednesday. Relatives of the victim refused to accompany the body.Santhavelu, a plumber from Thiruverkadu, was part of an 80-member group that left for Sabarimala on January 6. Demanding a thorough probe into the incident that led to Santhavelu’s death, his family members refused to perform the last rites. Tension began building up in the area on Wednesday morning, when activists of a few outfits gathered at his house in large numbers. Former PMK MLA T Velmurugan and Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam president Seeman paid tributes to the body.JCP (North) N K Senthamaraikannan said the revenue divisional officer (RDO) of Ponneri received a complaint that the body was being kept for three or four days at the house. “The revenue officials sought our assistance in removing the body,” a police official said.The JCP said the revenue officials requested people assembled there to cooperate, but they said they would not allow the body to be removed till their demands were met.“That is not our problem. It is for the two governments to decide,” he said.The revenue officials led by RDO and a large police team, led by Senthamaraikannan, removed the body and carried it to the Ambattur cremation ground. “The RDO asked the family members to accompany the body, but they refused,” the officer said. “The cremation took place around 5.30 pm,” he added. Velmurugan and around 100 protestors were arrested and later released.The Kerala Chief Minister’s office had on Tuesday said that Santhavelu suffered burns when boiling water fell on him as a firestone (choolah) gave in at a shop while he was trying to dry currency notes on January 9.
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