The New Indian Express ·
Tamil Nadu: Tiruppur panchayat president gets lifer for killing activist in road work dispute
TIRUPPUR: The Tiruppur Second Additional District Court has awarded life imprisonment to a town panchayat president for murdering a social activist near Samalapuram in Tiruppur.
The accused was identified as Vinayaka Palanisamy (62), who served as the president of Samalapuram Town Panchayat in Tiruppur. On July 4, 2025, Vinayaka Palanisamy initiated works to lay a new tar road in the Lakshmi Nagar area near Karukampalayam.
However, the area planned for the road construction belonged to four private individuals who opposed the move. Subsequently, a complaint against the project was submitted to the town panchayat executive engineer under the leadership of K Palanisamy (57), a local social activist. This allegedly led to enmity between Vinayaka and the activist.
On September 10, 2025, while Palanisamy was riding his bike on the Karanampettai-Somanur Road, a speeding car rammed his bike, flinging him on the road. Bystanders took Palanisamy, who was critically injured, to a private hospital in Samalapuram. He was then referred to a private hospital in Sulur. However, the doctors declared him dead.
Based on a complaint filed by Sukumar, Palanisamy’s son, police filed a case. The investigation confirmed that Vinayaka was the one driving the car. Subsequently, police arrested him.