School tragedy: Victims’ lawyer on the run

The advocate who lives in Irumbuliyar, has been allegedly absconding ever since the victims alleged misappropriation of funds received. A special team headed by Thanjavur Deputy Superintendent Thangavelu is said to have camped in Chennai for over a week to nab the lawyer. Since he is suspected to have gone into hiding, the team decided to raid his house and due permission was sought from the Tahsildar. 

On Sunday, the personnel broke open the house in the presence of Tahsildar and carried out a search. While others were not allowed inside, local police guarded the two-storey house as a precautionary measure. The search lasted for hours and CB-CID sleuths are have said to have seized several documents from Thamizharasan’s house. It is said that Thamizharasan swindled upto Rs 3 crore meant for the victims’ families as compensation. 

As many as 94 primary students of Krishna English Medium School were burnt to death in their classroom as the thatched roof caught fire 15 years ago. Thamizharasan, who represented them in High Court seeking higher compensation from the government, allegedly used the blank cheques issued by the parents on demand to withdrew huge sum from each of their accounts in a fraudulent manner after the compensation of about Rs 5 lakh was deposited in the account by the government.