The Chennai police have frozen the account within hours they opened to channelise the contribution of cops who had volunteered to pool in money for the family of Maduravoyal Inspector S.Periyapandian who was shot dead in Rajasthan.

After the statement carrying the HDFC bank account number with IFSC code and the phone numbers of 3 officers who were deputed to monitor the fund collection somehow penetrated into Facebook from the policemen’s whatsaspp groups, the Chennai police announced late on Thursday night that the account has been frozen.

“A separate account was created exclusively for police officers and cops of Chennai city who wished to help Periyapandian’s family. The information was passed on to police personnel. But it got spread as though the police were seeking funds from the public to help the late inspector’s family,” a release from the Chennai city police said.

It was also reasoned that the account has been closed so that the cops’ kind gesture was not misconstrued. The release also pointed out that the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has given Rs One crore solatium to the bereaved family and announced that the state government would bear the educational expenses of Periyapandian’s sons.

“Many cops expressed their willingness to help the late inspector’s family. Hence, the Commissioner took the initiative and formed a committee to channelise the contributions. The announcement was informally shared among police personnel in whatsapp groups, but the message spread to the public too,” Thirunavukkarasu told The Covai Post.