Tamil Nadu Assembly: Group clash, not drug behind killing of Coimbatore student Amudhan, says Law Minister

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Led by the Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, DMK MLAs staged a walk out from the Assembly on August 17, 2026 | Photo Credit: S.R. Raghunathan

Tamil Nadu Law Minister R Nirmalkumar, on Monday (August 17, 2026), told the Legislative Assembly that a group clash between students of an engineering college in Malumichampatti in Coimbatore had led to the recent killing of third-year student Amudhan and that drug use, as alleged by the Opposition, had no role in the killing.

Replying to a special calling attention motion moved by Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and others, the Minister also denied the allegation that Amudhan was killed because he had complained to the police about drug use and that the police had leaked the complaint to drug peddlers, resulting in the killing of Amudhan.

But the DMK members, who entered into an argument with Mr. Nirmalkumar and subsequently with Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Aadhav Arjuna, staged a walkout, saying that they were not satisfied with the Minister’s reply.

Mr. Nirmalkumar explained the problem started when fourth-year students attacked Amudhan and his second-year friends on August 9. Amudhan’s friends retaliated by attacking the fourth-year students the next day at their rooms in Ottaikalmandapam and Poonganagar. They collected their cell phones and escaped in cars and other vehicles.

The injured were treated in a private hospital. The next day, on August 11, the fourth-year students waylaid Amudhan and his friends and attacked them. One of the students injured in the incident escaped, while they took Amudhan to a ground, continued to attack him and left him in his friend’s room. As he remained unconscious until 3 p.m., he was taken to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

The Minister said two cases were filed under various sections and that the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was subsequently invoked in the case (as Amudhan belonged to the Scheduled Caste). After the post-mortem, the body was handed over to his family on the same day on August 11.

He said a total of 15 persons were arrested in connection with one case and another two in connection with the other case.

Mr. Nirmalkumar said the government was closely monitoring the situation. Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu and Backward Classes Minister V. Sampath Kumar met his parents and offered ₹6 lakh in compensation and government job to his brother.

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