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

On August 17, 2026, Tamil Nadu's Law Minister R Nirmalkumar stated in the Legislative Assembly that a group dispute among engineering college students in Malumichampatti, Coimbatore, resulted in the death of third-year student K. Amuthan (19), and that allegations of drug use, as claimed by the Opposition, had no connection to the incident.

Addressing a special calling attention motion proposed by Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and others, Nirmalkumar refuted claims that Amuthan was killed due to his complaint to the police about drug use or that the police had leaked the complaint to drug traffickers, leading to the student's demise. The DMK members, who clashed with Nirmalkumar and subsequently with Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Aadhav Arjuna, walked out, expressing dissatisfaction with the Minister's response.

Nirmalkumar clarified that the conflict began when fourth-year students attacked Amuthan and his second-year friends on August 9; his friends retaliated by assaulting the fourth-year students the following day at around 5 a.m. The injured were treated in a private hospital, and the fourth-year students abducted Amuthan and his friends around 8.30 a.m. on the same day.

They took Amuthan to a ground, continued attacking him, and left him unconscious in his friend's room by 10.30 a.m. He was taken to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Two cases were filed under various sections, with the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act subsequently invoked (as Amuthan belonged to the Scheduled Caste).

Around 15 persons were arrested in connection with one case and two in the other. Nirmalkumar stated that the government was closely monitoring the situation. Social Justice Minister Vanni Arasu and Backward Classes Minister V. Sampath Kumar visited Amuthan's parents, offering ₹6 lakh in compensation and a government job to his brother.

The Minister appealed to the Opposition to refrain from linking drugs with the case, emphasizing that it was a case of vendetta attack, with no suppression of facts by the police or the government, and a charge sheet would be filed in three months.