A special police team investigating the sensational double murder case of two septuagenarian sisters killed at their house in West Mambalam last May seems to have achieved a breakthrough. Three juveniles, suspected to the killers, have been nabbed by the police with a portion of the victims' jewellery. They are being questioned.
The murder-for-gain came to light on May 11 when a domestic help found the bodies of Jayalakshmi (75) and Kamakshi (72) at their residence on K.R. Koil Street. Sources with the investigation team said the faces of the victims were tied using a cloth resulting in suffocation and later death. Kamakshi suffered broken ribs. The jewellery they wore was missing.
Investigations by a Kumaran Nagar police team went on and many people including domestic helpers working in the area, residents and autorickshaw drivers from a nearby stand were questioned. Relatives of the victims were also questioned and investigations almost hit a roadblock as Rs. 12 lakh deposited by the victims in the bank was untouched and the sisters had nominated each other as a beneficiary for the amount.
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The team then detained a few juvenile offenders. The father of one of the boys applied for an anticipatory bail raising suspicion of the investigators. But, the boys were let off due to the lack of solid evidence pertaining to the killings, sources said. A special team was later formed for the case and a fresh probe went on till this May. It is known that a breakthrough has been achieved in the case after exactly 12 months of the killings. The three teenagers said to be in the 14-16 age group are suspected to have strangulated the women on the evening of May 10, 2011 and fled with over 12 sovereigns of jewellery.
However, the investigation team refused to divulge any further information on how the suspects were nabbed and their motive behind the killing.