Two incidents of murder, including that of an 87-year-old man in Choolaimedu, on Tuesday afternoon sent shockwaves across the city. In another incident on Monday evening, an armed gang hacked a 27-year-old Ayyappa devotee, Karthik, in public view near Luz signal in Mylapore.
Tuesday’s killing of the octogenarian, S. Veliappan, ascertained to be a murder for gain by the police, came to light around 2.30 p.m., when his son found him lying in a pool of blood at the latter’s residence in East Namachivayapuram. The elderly man’s throat was slit, and the gold chain and rings he was wearing were missing.
“He was residing alone after my grandmother’s death. Family members took turns giving him food. This afternoon, neighbours told us he had slipped and fallen in the house. We ran to find him lying dead,” said Bhuvaneswari, Mr. Veliappan’s granddaughter. The Choolaimedu police have obtained CCTV footage from a nearby showroom and are scrutinising it.
In the second case of murder on Tuesday, a 38-year-old AIADMK functionary, ‘Bullet’ Vishwa alias A.M. Vishwanathan, was intercepted by an armed gang on Muthumariamman Koil Street in K.K. Nagar West. He was attacked as fear-struck motorists and pedestrians watched. The police reached the spot and rushed him to a hospital, but he succumbed to his wounds. The police claim a family dispute led to the murder.
In Monday’s murder in Mylapore, the police have apprehended three persons, and the motive ascertained as a personal enmity.