A 46-year-old man from Tamil Nadu, who accompanied his son to Kerala for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, (NEET) died of possible heart attack on Sunday as the aspiring doctor wrote the examination.

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Krishnasamy, who suffered cardiac arrest was admitted to a hospital where he died, Palaniswami said. As Krishnasamy breathed his last, his son wrote the exam unaware of his father’s fate.

Hailing from Tiruvarur district in Tamil Nadu, Krishnaswamy and his son, Kasturi Mahalingam, checked into the Airlines Hotel on the morning of May 5.

“Our staff got an autorickshaw for the boy to reach the exam centre in the morning. Later, the father called the reception complaining of ill health and was taken to a hospital,” a hotel staffer said.

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An official of City Hospital said: “Krishnaswamy came to the hospital around 8.20am and his sugar levels were high. He was conscious and oriented. Unfortunately, he collapsed soon after that. We could not revive him.”

Chief Minister K Palaniswami conveyed his condolence to the kin of the deceased and announced a solatium of Rs 3 lakh from the CM’s Public Relief Fund. Krishnasamy had travelled with his son Kasturi Mahalingam to Ernakulam in Kerala, where the student was allotted a centre to write the NEET 2018. The father suffered a heart attack this morning when he was in a lodge after seeing off his son at the exam centre.

“I have sent a team of Tamil Nadu officials to Ernakulam to assist Kasturi Mahalingam to take his father’s body home after he completes writing NEET exam,” the Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister said Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan has spoken to her Kerala counterpart seeking assistance to bring Krishnasamy’s body to back Tamil Nadu. Ernakulam District Collector Saffrullah is taking swift steps to send Krishnasamy’s body to his native village in Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami said.

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The death comes against the backdrop of the Centre facing flak from opposition parties for not allotting centres for all the Tamil Nadu students within the State. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET is conducted for selecting students to study medical and dental courses.