Pitchais death: Truck driver nabbed

CHENNAI: Special teams of the CB-CID, on Monday, nabbed the driver of the lorry that killed AIADMK Minister Mariam Pitchai, in Andhra Pradesh, and traced the vehicle to Kharagpur in West Bengal after intensive interstate physical verification of nearly 800 vehicles for five days.The special team detained lorry driver Rahamathullah at Vijayawada and tracked down the lorry at Kharagpur in West Bengal with the assistance of the West Bengal police. A CB-CID team is leaving for Kolkata to bring the lorry back for inspection. The lorry was found to have been registered in Andhra Pradesh.N Mariyam Pitchai, the Minister for Environment, who left for Chennai from his home city Tiruchy on May 23 to participate in the MLAs’ swearing-in-ceremony, was killed in a road accident near Thiruvalakurichi, when the Toyota Innova car in which he was travelling collided with a lorry. The driver sped away soon after the accident.Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had ordered a probe by the CB-CID into the accident.Archana Ramasundaram, Additional Director General of Police, CB-CID, visited Perambalur and examined the accident spot.Crucial witnesses were examined and the damaged car of the deceased minister and the accident spot were inspected with the assistance of forensic experts and motor vehicle maintenance department officials, apart from an officer from the car company, according to a release from the CB-CID.The ADGP had formed 12 teams headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police (under two Superintendents of Police) to probe the incident. A massive hunt was launched to trace the missing vehicle and its driver in various states including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry with the assistance of the respective state CIDs, the release added.The special team is investigating the case further.