Cuddalore Member of Parliament T.R.V.S. Ramesh (DMK), who was booked by the CB-CID police in connection with the murder of a worker in a cashew processing unit owned by him in Panikankuppam, surrendered before the Judicial Magistrate Court I in Panruti near here on Monday.
The CB-CID police had already arrested five persons , all employees in the cashew processing unit, on charges of the murder of K. Govindarasu, 60 of Melmampattu on September 20.
Mr. Ramesh was named as the prime accused in the case and the CB-CID had launched a search for him.
According to police, the victim was working as a labourer in the cashew processing unit for the last seven years. On September 20, Govindarasu was returning home after work when an employee frisked him and accused him of stealing 7 kg of cashew nuts. Govindarasu was allegedly assaulted on the premises and later taken to the Kadampuliyur police station for lodging a complaint.
The Station House Officer noticed bleeding injuries on Govindarasu’s face and asked the complainants, Kandavelu and Shanmugam, to take him to the hospital for treatment. However, the duo reportedly took the victim back to the cashew processing unit. Govindarasu was found dead under suspicious circumstances in the unit a few hours later.
The CB-CID police is likely to take Mr. Ramesh into custody for interrogation.
‘Pained over vendetta politics’
In a statement issued before his surrender, Mr. Ramesh said that he was pained over political parties indulging in “politics of vendetta” over the incident.
“I am really pained that such political mileage is being sought by political parties over the CB-CID registering an FIR against me in the murder of a worker in my cashew processing unit,” he said.
“As a sincere functionary of the DMK and having great regard for my leader, I am surrendering before the court. This was only to prevent unnecessary aspersions being cast against the party. I will legally prove with evidence that the complaint against me is baseless and establish my innocence,” he said.
