Man Immolates Self In Tamil Nadu, Cops Suspect Link To Deepam Row

A 40-year-old man died after setting himself on fire in Madurai this evening in an incident the police suspect is suicide linked to the ongoing controversy over the lighting of a deepam on a pillar at the Thiruparankundram hilltop.

The man has been identified as Poornachandran, an MBA graduate from Narimedu, Madurai. He worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative and operated a small delivery van selling fruits. The police said he drove his vehicle and parked it opposite a statue of rationalist Dravidian icon Periyar, near the Madurai Corporation office, before entering a nearby police outpost.

Investigators said Poornachandran locked himself inside the police booth around 3.30 pm, and immolated himself. Locals, noticing flames and hearing screams, alerted the fire services.

Firefighters from the Tallakulam station rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. Poornachandran's body was sent to the Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital for postmortem.

"We believe it is a case of suicide. We are investigating," a senior police officer told NDTV. 

The officer added that the police have recovered a mobile phone and are examining an audio recording that some friends of the man claim to have received. 

In the audio, which NDTV cannot independently verify, a male voice is heard criticising the ruling DMK over what it describes as the failure to execute a Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court order permitting the lighting of a deepam on a pillar near a dargah on the Thiruparankundram hill.

While the court had permitted the lighting of the lamp on the disputed pillar near the dargah - in addition to the existing locations - the temple administration chose to continue lighting the deepam only near the Uchipillayar temple on the hilltop. 

Temple authorities have maintained that this is the traditional spot where the deepam has been lit continuously for over a hundred years, in accordance with established customs and Agama practices.

In the same audio recording, the voice is also heard explaining the choice of location near the Periyar statue, saying the act was carried out there to avoid, in his words, "bringing disrepute" to the temple. "I did this before Periyar statue because I wanted to  do this for god before who say there is no god," it added.

Police said Poornachandran had been associated with the Hindu Munnani and the BJP around three years ago, though the nature of his current political involvement is being verified.

The death comes even as legal proceedings over the disputed pillar continued. The Tamil Nadu government and the temple administration have filed an appeal against the single judge order, arguing there is no evidence to prove the pillar is a deepathoon meant for lighting lamps. 

The state has contended that the petition is not maintainable and that the order affects temple ownership, trusteeship and administration. The Wakf Board has maintained that the pillar belongs to the dargah, while police have argued that enforcing the order could disturb public peace.

Reacting to the death, BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai appealed for restraint, saying courts must be trusted and urging people not to take extreme steps. A DMK spokesperson, however, told NDTV that a life had been lost due to what the party termed "destructive politics and fake propaganda" by the BJP, asserting that the government has ensured the continuation of century-old traditions of lighting the deepam near the Uchipillayar temple.