AIADMK minister N Mariam Pitchai (60) was killed in a road accident near Tiruchi on Monday morning. The first time minister, holding environment portfolio, was rushing to Chennai to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of the 14th legislative assembly representatives, scheduled for this afternoon. The mishap occurred near Padalur in Perambalur district on the Tiruchi-Chennai NH. Police said his speeding car rammed into a truck moving in front of it, killing the minister on the spot and injuring his driver. State sports minister N R Sivapathy who was following him in another car was a witness to the tragedy.
Mariam Pitchai, a former Tiruchi urban district secretary of AIADMK and a corporation councilor, is survived by a daughter and three sons. A native of Sangiliandapuram in Tiruchi, Mariam Pitchai was a film distributor and also owned a theatre. He entered politics contesting in the 1988 local body polls. He unsuccessfully contested against DMK's heavy-weight and former minister K N Nehru in 2006 elections. AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa chose him again in 2011 as the right person to challenge the might of Nehru in Tiruchi West segment. A number of shocked AIADMK cadres gathered at the government hospital in Tiruchi where his body was brought.
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