Chennai: Madhaiyan, the elder brother of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan died of a heart attack, at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital in Salem in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Madhaiyan, aged 80, was undergoing a life term in the Salem Central prison. However, on May 1, he suffered severe chest pain and was admitted to a government hospital.
He was provided continuous treatment by the doctors but his health condition kept deteriorating. The doctors also informed his family members about the condition.
In this backdrop, on Wednesday, Madhaiyan died without responding to the treatment.
Earlier, Madhaiyan was admitted to the hospital in 2018 after he developed breathlessness. Madhaiyan also had ailments including diabetes and other health issues.
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A court in Erode had sentenced him to a life term in connection with the murder of a forest ranger, Chidamabaram in 1987 and was in jail for the last 34 years. He had served a jail term in Mysuru for a murder case and was then shifted to the Coimbatore and Salem prisons, police said.
A native of Kadumalaikoodal near Mettur in Salem district, Madhaiyan leaves behind his wife, police said.
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Veerappan was notorious poacher and sandalwood smuggler. Veerappan, who ruled over forest areas in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala for more than two decades, was killed in an encounter with the STF personnel of Tamil Nadu police, in 2004.
(With PTI inputs)