Demanding CBI probe into the death of a Scheduled Caste youth Amudhan (19), son of Kennedy and Sumathi of Kallakurichi district, who was brutally murdered by an armed gang of students of a private engineering college in Coimbatore on August 10, Evidence, an NGO in Madurai, has also urged the newly elected Tamil Nadu government to deal with an iron hand in curtailing drugs in the State.

Speaking to media persons on Friday, A Kathir, executive director of Evidence, an NGO, said that the young boy, who was studying third year engineering, was killed in a brutal manner.

“The murderers, who were drugged, had used rods, logs and other weapons. It had happened in a broad daylight close to the college grounds in Coimbatore district....”

He further charged that the police and the college authorities appeared to be keen on ‘hiding’ the real facts and presented a different tale.

He said the cause of death had arisen after Amudhan had disclosed the names of students, who were addicted to drugs to a four-member committee constituted by the college management. Irked over this, the annoyed gang of students had killed Amudhan.

Intervening, the boy’s mother Sumathi said that only after Amudhan disclosed the names of the students, who had access to all kinds of drugs, they had targeted him with deadly weapons. While this was the fact, which had claimed the life of Amudhan, the police and college authorities were giving vague reasons.

She further said, “There was no group among the students and even if there were such claims by the college and the police, my son was not involved in any such groups.”

She pleaded and asserted that the only reason for the death was that he revealed the names to the committee members.

Weeping during the conversation, she said that if the government was really serious to end the drug menace in educational institutions, they should arrest all the 20 suspects, which alone would discourage youth from falling prey to narcotics like ganja and other substances.

Two fact-finding teams from the Evidence, which visited both Kallakurichi district, the native of Amudhan’s family and Coimbatore, where he studied, said that though the Chettipalayam police in Coimbatore district have registered cases under BNS sections 191 (2), 126 (2), 127 (2), 137 (2), 109 (1) and 103 (1) and among others, the investigation appeared to be one-sided so far.

Hence, they had decided to approach the court seeking a direction for CBI investigation and also under the supervision of a High Court judge.

The fact-finding team members said that inquiries by them with some of the students, who had knowledge about the murder incident, said that the police should have registered cases against the college authorities for not taking stringent action against students using narcotics. It was freely available in some of the hostel rooms.

The Tamil Nadu government should immediately release ₹12 lakh as compensation to the family members for the brutal murder as per the law.

Amudhan’s elder brother Charles (21) should be given a government job. The arrested youth should all be booked under the Goondas Act and none of them should be given bail under any circumstances, Mr. Kathir said and appealed to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to deal firmly with the ganja menace, especially on higher education campuses, across the State.

Published - August 14, 2026 08:31 pm IST