Man kills self over dam row

THENI: A 35-year-old man, who had come to join the Mullaiperiyar dam retrieval rally in Chinnamanoor on Wednesday, fell unconscious and died on the way to hospital. It is allleged that had consumed poisonous seeds before proceeding to join the rally. It is said that Ramamurthy was in a state of depression during the past few days over the Mullaiperiyar issue. People rushed him to the Chinnamanoor government hospital and then shifted  to the Theni Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead. According to a letter that he carried in his pocket, he had consumed ground oleander seeds unable to bear the prolonged impasse over the Mullaiperiyar dam issue.His brother Veluchamysaid that during the past few days he had been complaining to his friends that all their agitations had not yielded any results because the Central and Kerala governments paid no attention to the aspirations of the Tamils.In his suicide letter, Ramamurthy is purported to have asked that the letter be handed over to the district administration and the police. But the Collectorate sources said that no such letter had been received by them.