Confirming fears that a retired engineer from Kerala, who was found dead in his apartment on Avanashi Road here on December 12, may have been murdered, the Coimbatore police on Monday altered what was initially a case of suspicious death into one of murder.
Medical opinion
The alteration in the first information report followed conclusive medical opinion in the autopsy report and a final certificate from the Forensic and Chemical Sciences Laboratory relating to the death of P. Thomas.
The reports relating to examination of pathology and viscera have ruled out any history of cardiac problems or presence of poisonous substance or foreign objects in the body.
However, the post-mortem report and final medical opinion pointed out that the death could have been caused by asphyxiation and the contusion marks in the neck vouched for the suspicion, police said.
The retired official was employed as a team leader with a project consultancy firm, which is collaborating with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on road projects in Coimbatore region.
Initial suspicion was whether cardiac problems caused the death or if it was a case of suicide.
Even as the son of the deceased Dr. Suraj Thomas raised suspicion over the death, police maintained that the case was not being closed as a case of natural death or suicide, but being treated as a case of death under suspicious circumstances under Section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code.
Dr. Suraj had told The Hindu soon after his father’s death that Mr. Thomas never had any health problems nor there were reasons for him to commit suicide and sought a detailed and speedy probe to nab the accused behind the “murder”.
Vital clues
“At present, three vital clues are being pursued. A police inspector who was formerly in-charge of the jurisdiction T.H. Ganesh has been posted as a special officer to probe into this case,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) T. Senthilkumar said.
The teams have begun the investigation in his hometown and workplace and all possible angles were being probed.
Investigations are on to ascertain whether the murder was due to personal animosity, professional rivalry and various other angles, officials said.
Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan told the media last week that the culprits behind the death of the engineer would be arrested shortly.
