The body of Sridhar Dhanapal, a notorious extortionist and a native of Kancheepuram, who died under mysterious circumstances in Cambodia, was brought to Chennai on Sunday.
Airport sources said the body arrived by a Malaysian Airlines flight, which landed in the international Cargo section at 10.45 a.m. His son Santhosh, who is expected to arrive late on Sunday night, is likely to produce the documents before Customs officials to claim the body from the airport on Monday morning.
Sridhar’s lawyer Purushothaman had been camping in Phnom Penh since October 5 with Mr. Santhosh.
Hearing a petition filed by Sridhar’s daughter Dhanalakshmi, the Madras High Court, on October 10, asked the Ministry of External Affairs to assist the family in bringing the body to Tamil Nadu where the don faced 43 cases, including a string of murders.
As Sridhar had no official documents on him, his family and lawyer were struggling to convince the Cambodian authorities that it was his body. Only after the Indian mission’s intervention did the family get clearance.
It was not clear what would be the next course of action once the body gets clearance from the Customs department. It is likely that the body would be sent to the Government Hospital in Chengalpet for a post-mortem, after which it would be handed over to family members to be taken to Kancheepuram for performing the final rites, police sources said.
