BJP TN chief meets kin of jawan 'killed' by DMK men

Chennai, March 4 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP state president K. Annamalai met the family of Army jawan M. Prabhu who was beaten to death, allegedly by a DMK councillor and his accomplices on February 16.

The BJP president met family members of Prabhu and handed them a cheque of Rs 10 lakh assistance.

The BJP president later told mediapersons the Chief Minister must take steps to protect the family and provide an amount of Rs 5 crore as compensation. The deceased is survived by his wife and two children.

M. Prabhu and his elder brother, M. Prabhakaran were beaten up by a group of people led by the DMK councillor, Chinnasami and his accomplices.

The issue, according to local people, commenced after Chinnaswamy abused the wife of Prabhakaran, Prabhu's elder brother, for washing clothes with water from the panchayat's water tank.

Prabhu's elder brother Prabhakaran, who was also injured, had said that Chinnasami deliberately attacked Prabhu and had even challenged that even if he killed the jawan, nothing will happen.

However, Chinnasami was arrested and is in judicial custody.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy in Tamil Nadu with the opposition BJP and AIADMK taking up the matter.

Annamalai said that the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) will continue and will not be cancelled and added that children have accepted it.

He also sarcastically said that no matter who meets whom, NEET will not be cancelled. He was referring to the recent statement of Tamil Nadu Sports and Youth Minister Udayanidhi Stalin that he had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spoken to him about the cancellation of NEET.