Additional secretary of Madras Race Club S. Aruna was killed in a brutal attack by a former assistant security guard with a knife on the club premises at Guindy on Wednesday night. Police said the guard’s suspension from service last July and his failed attempts to get back the job provoked the killing.
The 48-year-old victim, a long-serving office-bearer of the MRC, was walking towards her car after attending a committee meeting, following race day on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Hindu at the club few hours after the incident, an official said the attack took place around 7.45 p.m. near the stairs under the Bobbili Venkatagiri stand. “She was talking over her mobile phone when the ex-guard ex-guard Solamalai tripped her. He then pounced on her as she fell down and slit her throat. He continued attacking her and was muscled away by the guards on duty,” he added. He was handed over to the Guindy police and his weapon was seized.
Solamalai (33) and over 100 employees were suspended, allegedly by MRC office-bearers, including Aruna, following the murder of an Anna Nagar-based financier on last July 11, 2012 at the MRC parking lot. The guards joined the syces’ union of the club and staged protests to get back their jobs, but the management was reluctant to reinstate them. A court case on the matter is pending. Guindy Police sources said Solamalai frequented the club even after he was ousted from the staff quarters as well.
On Wednesday, he had slipped into the premises and waited for Aruna and attacked her after she came out of meeting which was attended by top members of the Club, sources added.
