The Srimushnam police on Sunday arrested five persons in connection with the murder of a woman at Pakkirimaniyam village on Friday, the day of polling. The accused, who belong to the same village, have been identified as Kalaimani, 42, Ravi, 44, Arivumani, 48, Meghanathan, 64 and Deepa, 41.
A police officer said that previous enmity between Kalaimani, the prime accused, and Jayashankar, a relative of the victim, was the reason for the murder. Kalaimani had pressed for scrutinising the details of the hundial money collected for the local Mariamman temple festival, which was administered by Jayashankar in 2021. Following this, an argument broke out between the two, resulting in Jayashankar lodging a complaint against Kalaimani.
On Friday, Jayashankar and his daughter Jayapriya were returning after casting their vote when Kalaimani and a group of persons allegedly intercepted them and asked them to withdraw the complaint, filed in 2021. A heated argument ensued and Kalaimani allegedly assaulted Jayashankar.
Jayashankar’s sister-in-law Gomathi, a resident of the area, was injured in the scuffle when she tried to intervene and stop the fight. She died on the way to the Andiamadam General Hospital in Ariyalur district, the police said.
Based on a complaint lodged by Jayashankar, the police arrested the five persons and remanded them in custody.
The police ruled out political angle to the murder and dismissed as misleading the videos published in a section of the media with the claim that the victim was murdered over her refusal to vote for a particular party. “It is well established from the investigation that the murder was due to personal enmity between the two groups,” Superintendent of Police R. Rajaram said, dismissing all other claims.
