Two persons were arrested in connection with the sensational double murder reported at Ashok Nagar here on September 24. The case pertains to the gruesome killing of Anantha Lakshmi (39) and her school-going son Surjith Kumar (13) whose bodies were found in a locked flat on the 49th Street.
Announcing this at a press conference, Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran said the murder was conspired by Velmurugan of Tuticorin district (who surrendered before the Judicial Magistrate, Mettupalayam on Oct. 1) and two of his accomplices Bala alias Baluvan of Tuticorin and Vijayaraj of Devakottai. The three were employees of a hotel in Puducherry.
Explaining the sequence that led to the twin murder, the Commissioner said Velmurugan used to frequent Anantha Lakshmi’s residence along with his friend Christopher, who worked earlier with Mr. Ramasubramanian in a pharmaceutical company in Chennai.
Mr. Ramasubramaniam then moved to Bangalore for employment, while his family remained in Chennai. Soon after the double murder, a special team formed by the Joint Commissioner of Police (South) P. Sakthivelu, got some clues which pointed to the involvement of Velmurugan in the case.
While the prime suspect surrendered in a court, the team arrested Bala and Vijayaraj. Valuables, including some jewels and a laptop were recovered from them.
On September 24, the accused persons came to the flat at around 11 a.m. Since Velmurugan was known to the family, Anantha Lakshmi let them in. First they smothered her with a pillow and stabbed her to death in the bedroom and then attacked her son Surjith Kumar.
The boy was dragged to the kitchen where the accused stabbed him on the neck after strangulating him with a piece of cloth, Mr. Rajendran said.
The gang took the jewels found on Anantha Lakshmi, Rs. 40,000 cash from the almirah and the laptop.
They locked the main door of the flat before leaving.
Appreciating the good work done by the special team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (T. Nagar) G. Sampath, the Police Commissioner said a proposal had been sent to the Government for forming a special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an officer in the rank of a DCP to exclusively handle complex and time-consuming cases.
