An activist, who had been demanding the closure of illegal stone quarries, was allegedly run over by a truck belonging to a quarry, at Kuppam near K. Paramathi in Karur district on Saturday evening.
The incident occurred a day after a quarry situated near Kalipalayam, where activist R. Jaganathan lived, was closed by the Department of Geology and Mining on complaints that it was being operated illegally.
According to local sources, a truck reportedly belonging to the Annai Stone Quarry knocked down Jaganathan when he was riding a two-wheeler. After confirming that he was dead, the occupants of the truck were said to have enacted a farce by alerting an ambulance service to conjure up a semblance of a road accident. Jaganathan was declared brought dead at the Government Medical College Hospital.
