Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa inaugurates memorial for freedom fighter Veerapandia Kattaboman

CHENNAI: Implementing an announcement made in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has inaugurated a memorial constructed for freedom fighter Veerapandia Kattabomman in Tuticorin.

The memorial was constructed at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore in Kayathar in Tuticorin district in lines with the Chief Minister's announcement in the Assembly, an official release said, adding she inaugurated it through video conferencing on Thursday.

She had made the announcement in 2013 during a discussion in the Assembly, saying that her government would construct a memorial for the patriot, who was hanged by the erstwhile British administration for opposing it.

Jayalalithaa also inaugurated a memorial for Sankaralingam, who died while staging a hunger strike demanding that the ertwhile Madras Presidency be renamed as Tamil Nadu, the release added.

The memorial was established in Viruthunagar district at an estimated cost of Rs 77 lakh.

The said efforts were part of the AIADMK government's efforts to honour freedom fighters and others who had made sacrifices for the country, it said.