Man who immolated self in chit fund office seeking his money dies

CHENNAI: A 56-year-old man, an electrician who set himself afire at a chit fund office in MGR Nagar last Thursday after the staff allegedly refused to repay the chit amount, succumbed to his burns on Tuesday.

The deceased was identified as Subbiah of Gerugambakkam.

After setting himself afire, he also hugged a woman staff at the office, Gayatri, who suffered 30 per cent burn injuries and is in treatment at a private hospital.

Subbiah joined a chit fund scheme run by a real estate broker near his house. According to police, Subbaiah paid Rs 3,300 as his monthly installment for about 15 months. Later, he stopped paying the amount.

Subbaiah asked the real estate broker, Selvam, to return the amount in November 2021. However, the latter refused to pay then and promised Subbaiah to return the amount once the chit tenure is completed in January this year.

When Subbiah approached Selvam in January to pay the principal amount of Rs 50,000, Selvam dodged him continuously and irate over this, Subbiah immolated self. MGR Nagar Police have registered a case and are investigating.