The precise nature of Raja's death is controversial. Folklore insists that he committed suicide by swallowing a diamond ring to avoid capture after he was wounded but Baber says he was killed by a clerk named Canara Menon. W. J. Wilson, who wrote on the history of the Madras Regiment, credits Captain Clafam and his six sepoys for killing. This third version is more likely as Baber was not on good terms with military authority throughout the war. He is alleged to have credited Menon so as to deny credit to Clafam and his superior Colonel Hill.