A case of man missing complaint booked in the city ended as kidnap and subsequent murder on Saturday.
Four days ago, Gurumani (30) of Keeraithurai went out of his house, but never returned. Immediately, his family members preferred a complaint with the police, who had registered a case of man missing.
When police followed the suspects, they realised that the offence was heinous as a gang had allegedly kidnapped Gurumani and set him on fire. It did not stop there. The body was burnt and the ashes were immersed in the Vaigai.
Police sources said that recently Santhanam’s brother-in-law (name not known) had differences with Gurumani. A wordy exchange between them resulted in Gurumani assaulting Santhanam and his relative. Fearing that Gurumani might kill them, Santhanam drew up a plan and invited the victim for a liquor party through some of his relatives.
Not knowing that he was going to be trapped, Gurumani went to a Tasmac bar in Villapuram, but never returned.
As investigation into the man missing case progressed, Santhanam and his accomplices Tirupathi, Muthumani and Prabaharan surrendered before the police. It is said that they had confessed to have committed the grave crime after Gurumani was drunk at the bar.
Commissioner of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav held a meeting with his officers and instructed them to examine more suspects.
A senior officer investigating the case said that Santhanam and Gurumani belonged to the same caste and some of the suspects had “links” with the main accused, “Attack” Pandi, who is wanted in the “Pottu” Suresh murder case.
The accused and the deceased in this case had previous criminal records in many police stations. They indulged in waylaying and attempts to murder, among other crimes, while some were involved in money lending at high rates of interest, he added.
The police would alter the complaint from man missing to murder. Incidentally, the city had been witnessing a number of grave crimes for the past few days. However, police maintained that the motivebehind the murders was personal.
The body was burnt and the ashes
were immersed
in the Vaigai
