The police nabbed a man for the murder of an 83-year-old woman at her residence in GKM Colony, Kolathur, on July 14.
They found that he had robbed her of her gold jewellery and murdered her.
The ailing octogenarian, Padmavathi Ammal, who was the mother of DMK functionary and Corporation councillor of ward 65, Deva Jawahar, was found dead in her bed.
Assuming she had died of natural causes, her family performed her last rites and cremated the body. Despite realising that two of her gold chains, weighing a total of 17 sovereigns, were missing, the grieving family failed to look into the matter.
“On Thursday afternoon, J. Kannan (28) of Villivakkam, who was an acquaintance of councillor Jawahar, came to the latter’s office and informed him that Padmavathi didn’t die of natural causes but was murdered. He stated that his friend, B. Kannadhasan (26), who is also the councillor’s neighbour, had smothered the woman to death for the gold,” said an investigating officer with the Kolathur police.
Deva Jawahar filed a police complaint and a probe was launched. The suspect, a BCA graduate, was apprehended on Thursday night and police interrogation revealed that he had committed the murder. The missing gold jewellery was found in his possession.
Kannadhasan and Kannan had been consuming alcohol together a few days ago, when the former boasted about his murdering an elderly woman, the police said.
Kannadhasan was remanded to custody and sent to Puzhal prison on Friday.
