Chennai, Dec 6:
Seventeen people died in rain-related incidents in the city in the past two days. According to police, out of the 17 people, the bodies of five persons are yet to be identified. One of the six persons who drowned was a head constable attached to ICF police station. He drowned in floodwater in Kilpauk on Monday night.
According to police, Rukhmangadhan (38) was returning to his house at the police quarters in Lutheral Garden, Kilpauk, after duty. He drowned while walking along Aspiran Garden Colony. On Tuesday morning, the body was noticed by passersby.
On receiving information, police retrieved the body and sent it for postmortem. Police also said that operations to bring out the two trapped workers at Five Furlongs Road junction was still under way on Tuesday evening. They were trapped when a road caved in near a gas station on Monday morning. A container had been kept near it and construction workers were residing inside. Three of them were rescued on Monday. City police were on their toes taking part in relief operations rescuing people across Chennai, including film stars Aamir Khan and Vishnu Vishal at Karapakkam, on Tuesday.
Officers were busy throughout the day helping NDRF, SDRF and fire and rescue personnel in relief work.
According to sources, Khan and Vishal, along with several other people were stuck at Karapakkam, and were rescued by Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services using a boat. Sources added that Khan had been in the city for a while now on some personal work.
Top police officials visited several inundated areas and interacted with residents on Tuesday. Meanwhile, residents of Alandur staged a protest at St Thomas Mount demanding restoration of power supply to their houses. They alleged that EB was diverting power supply to industries instead of residential areas. Talking to TNIE, a senior police officer said, “We summoned the assistant engineer to the scene. But, on seeing him, the crowd grew agitated and alleged that the person has been repeating this for several years. The police promised action and pacified the residents.”
The officer added that similar protests were also held at Nanganallur and other parts of the city. At Pattinapakkam, a group barged into the local EB office and created a ruckus, sources said.
