The Tiruchengode police on Wednesday altered the case of suspicious death of V. Gokulraj (22), whose body was found with his head severed on the railway track near Pallipalayam on June 24, into a case of murder.
The ID card found near the railway track. A three-member team of doctors that conducted autopsy on June 27 submitted its report to the Madras High Court, which, in turn, ordered that a copy be given to the Investigating Officer and Tiruchengode DSP R. Vishnupriya. After consultation with the doctors at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital, the DSP on Wednesday filed a petition in the Tiruchengode court seeking permission to alter the Sections.
Later, the Tiruchengode town police altered the Sections to 302 (murder), 366 (abduction) and under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
After the police confirmed that sections were altered, Chitra, mother of the victim, and her relatives and cadre of the VCK who were on indefinite fast for the past four days withdrew their protest in the evening. Relatives are expected to receive the body on Thursday and conduct funeral at Omalur.
Meanwhile, the police picked up six persons for questioning.
A native of Saastha Nagar in Omalur Taluk, Gokulraj completed his ECE at a private engineering college in Tiruchengode last month. On June 23, he was said to have been chatting with his friend Swathi (20) of Paramathi Velur at Sri Arthanareeswarar Temple at Tiruchengode when an unidentified gang abducted him.
Based on a complaint from Gokulraj’s mother Chitra, the Tiruchengode Town police registered a case under Section 363 (abduction) while the Erode Railway Police registered a case under Section 174 of CrPc. On June 24, his body was found on the track with a suicide note in his pocket.
