Salem: In a shocking development in Attur town near here on Wednesday, the founding partner of a finance firm committed suicide in his home but not before recording his voice on a video clip holding the local police as being “responsible for his death”. The brief video has gone viral on social media here.
The deceased Premkumar, 50, and his brother Senthilkumar, 46, of Jothi Nagar in Attur in Salem district had been managing a licensed NBFC, catering to the credit requirements of the town and nearby areas.
Sources said that some years back an auto-rickshaw driver, Rajkumar,40, of the area had taken a loan of Rs 1.50 lakh from this firm, but had not been repaying the loan. Premkumar had lodged a complaint with the Attur police after repeated reminders to the auto driver to repay the loan in installments were of no avail.
However, a few months back the auto-driver gave a counter complaint to the police saying the finance firm owner had “abused me using my caste name”. Pursuing the second complaint, some police officers at Attur police station allegedly called Premkumar repeatedly for investigation and had severely harassed him. The police officers allegedly told Premkumar to return the loan papers of Rajkumar, or face dire consequences.
Unable to cope with “repeated police harassment” and depression arising out of it, Premkumar had attempted suicide and was found lying unconscious in his room today. His shocked relatives including his sons rushed him to a hospital in Attur where doctors said Premkumar had already died.
However, when the relatives checked Premkumar’s mobile phone, they found a short video recording of his plight and what drove him to take his life. The deceased’s brother charged that some officers in Attur town police, without taking action against the erring auto-driver, had instead demanded a bribe from Premkumar to close the auto-driver’s complaint.
Meanwhile, Premkumar’s son, on the basis of the video recorded before his death, sent an online complaint to the Salem SP, urging action against the concerned police officials in Attur. The family also refused to accept the body of Premkumar from the hospital until police took action.
