Decapitated body found under bridge

A headless corpse was discovered in a bush near Basin Bridge railway station on Wednesday morning.

The police have identified the deceased to be a Pulianthope-based autorickshaw driver who went missing on January 13.

According to the Basin Bridge police, the highly decomposed body of a man, with the right hand missing, was found by a police team after locals complained of foul smell emanating from under the bridge.

“We suspect the victim was murdered and the body dumped there more than a week ago. A case of murder has been registered,” said an investigating officer attached to the Basin Bridge police on Wednesday afternoon.

By evening, the police found out a man was reported missing at the Pulianthope police station on January 14. The complainant, Bhagyalakshmi of Kannikapuram in Pulianthope, identified the body to be that of her son Prabhakaran (25), an autorickshaw driver.

On January 13, the victim returned from a pilgrimage to Sabarimala and was last seen with some friends near his house. His phone remained switched off and he couldn’t be located afterwards following which Bhagyalakshmi approached the police.

The Basin Bridge police are now probing the murder and questioning the victim’s friends. It is suspected a longstanding rivalry with some locals resulted in Prabhakaran’s murder.