CHENNAI: Two days after 20 members of a family lost their lives in Pulicat lake, the relatives of the deceased seem to be involved in a turf war over the custody of the three surviving children. The relatives of businessman Sundarapandian, the patriarch of the family who died in the accident, alleged that the tension in the family began once the children — Janagaraj (13), Paul Dinakar (10) and Paunraj (12) — were brought to the hospital on Sunday night after being rescued.They alleged that after the children were discharged from the Government Hospital in Ponneri on Monday evening, the maternal uncle of Janagaraj and Paul Dinakar took all three boys to his house in Tiruvottiyur, Chennai. “He said he would keep the three children in his house for a couple of days and bring them to Gummidipoondi,” revealed a relative of Sundarapandian.But the relatives alleged that the uncle failed to bring the children back for a memorial prayer meeting held Tuesday morning at a church in Gummidipoondi. After the prayer, a meeting of family members and neighbours was to take place to decide on the custody of the children. “The elders in the town, church members, members of the Nadar Sangam and family members of the deceased were to have met to discuss the custody of the children, but the children did not turn up. We tried his (the uncle’s) mobile phone. He kept saying he was on his way but by afternoon his phone was switched off. We are speaking to the local authorities and, if needed, will make a police complaint,” said a relative.Till Tuesday evening, the family claimed the meeting would be held the same day. Meanwhile, government authorities were conducting an inquiry to identify the blood relatives of the deceased to hand over the solatium announced by the Chief Minister. “The child welfare committee will take the final decision on who should get the solatium,” said RDO Kandasamy. The relatives claimed the maternal uncle was at the Tiruvallur collectorate in connection with the inquiry. “We will go by the rules in guardianship of the children and we will take into consideration the fact that they are Christians and go by the law,” said Ashish Chatterjee, Collector, Tiruvallur.
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