Shock, anger as village bids adieu to victims

CHENNAI: Gummidipoondi mourned the death of its resident Sundarapandian and his entire family, with businessmen downing shutters for a day and joining people who thronged the burial ground.The mood at the burial ground was one of visible anger and shock as the villagers were seen discussing about the family. “We still cannot believe that Sundarapandian’s entire family is wiped out. He was earlier living in Pazhaverkadu and he knew about the lake. We wonder why he went with his entire family there,” said John, a resident of Gummidipoondi.The graves were dug using an earthmover and the family members were buried as and when the bodies arrived. The prayers were held at a nearby Church. “The family is regular to church and the kids have never missed a service,” said Rev. Andrews, a priest.The siblings of Sundarapandian and their family members were visibly shocked as they stared at the graves. The future of the surviving three kids were definitely on their minds, as one of the relatives said that they would all gather in few days time and appoint a guardian for the kids. “In fact, one of the aunts wanted to take care of the two children but the entire family has to meet and finalise on that,” a relative said. The surviving children, Janagaraj and Paul, were sons of Sundarapandian’s eldest son, Jebadurai, while Paunraj was the son of Sundarapandian’s daughter, Bhagyamani.Police, who were guarding the burial ground, said that the body of Nazeera Banu, wife of boatman Hansar, was buried in a ground in her hometown, New Gummidipoondi. RDO Kandasamy was conducting an inquiry to trace the blood relations of the family members to handover the solatium announced by Chief Minister, police said.Joining the police at the burial ground were DRO Chitrasena, Tahsildar Ramabiran, Special Tahsildar Velammal, Madhavaram Tahsildar Pandian, four revenue inspectors and 15 village administrative officers.Neighbours recalled Sundarapandian and his sons as hard workers, who rose from being sugarcane juice sellers to become wealthy owners of a hotel and a departmental store. “On Sunday, he gave me prawn biriyani and cake for Christmas,” said septuagenarian Yellappa Reddiar, a neighbour.Meanwhile, police personnel guarded the three-storeyed house and shop of Sundarapandian. Police personnel said they were instructed by their senior officials to guard the house.