Man falls off 2,400ft going around temple in TN

Tiruchirappalli: A man, who accidentally fell from the edge of a cliff near a temple in Tamil Nadu, was found dead on Sunday. The temple is located at an altitude of 2,400 feet on the Thalamalai Hills in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu State.

His fall was filmed by witnesses. The video shows the man casually step on to the narrow ledge of temple perched on top of a hill to encircle it – a ritual performed by some despite a ban.

The victim has been identified as Arumugam (38), an auto driver. He was on his third round of encircling the temple.

During the current Tamil month of Purataasi, a large number of devotees visit the temple.

Since he had come alone, and no proper complaint was registered it took some time for the Police to take action on the incident and search for the victim.

There was confusion over the jurisdiction as the police in Tiruchi district said the spot where Arumugam fell came under the Erumapatty police station in Namakkal district.

As the video went viral, his wife rushed to the spot and claimed that the man in the video was Arumugam.

A police officer at Erumapatty said a team of Fire and Rescue Services personnel, along with a few forest department employees and local people, had gone atop the hill in search of Arumugam.