The murder of siblings — Selvakumar and his sister Sathya — in the district recently took a new turn with the police on Tuesday arresting their mother Yamuna and grandmother Seethalakshmi in connection with the killings.
Yamuna and her mother Seethalakshmi were inquired by the investigators who had already arrested four other accused in connection with the twin murders.
The women, who reside at Tiruvanaikoil in the city, were picked up after their return from a temple visit in Maharashtra.
The police are on the look out for Kannan, said to be the main accused, whose whereabouts are not known.
The bodies of Selvakumar and Sathya were found dumped at Periyakattukulam village near Pulivalam a few days ago.
The body of Selvakumar was found dumped inside a gunny bag on the Deepavali festival day, while that of Sathya was found inside a barrel a few days later close to the same spot.
The Pulivalam police had booked separate cases of murder.
While interrogating Yamuna, she reportedly told the investigators that her husband Thangavel was murdered allegedly by Kannan a few years ago and that the body was dumped near Samayapuram.
Thangavel, it is said, was killed as he was said to have admonished his wife over her alleged relationship with Kannan.
The police sources said the siblings did not like the alleged relationship their mother Yamuna had with Kannan.
Further, they were against their house being sold as reportedly suggested by Kannan who, it is said, wanted a share. More information would be known in this case after arresting Kannan, the police say.
The identity of the siblings was established recently after investigators picked up initial leads they got from the name of a private agency mentioned in the barrel and pursued it vigorously.
This lead enabled investigators in arresting four persons, including the driver of a light commercial vehicle, in which the bodies of the siblings were transported to Periyakattukulam village near Pulivalam from their house in Tiruvanaikoil.
