A case of a man missing complaint registered in 2018 in Ramanathapuram district has turned out to be a gruesome murder, with the police arresting three persons recently.
Briefing reporters, Superintendent of Police, E. Karthik, said on Friday that following a complaint from Alagulingam of Kannirajapuram village, the Sayalkudi police registered a case in December 2018. According to the complainant, his younger brother Muthu (38) was missing since December 24, 2018. The police could not trace him.
On a petition from the relatives of Muthu, the Madras High Court Madurai Bench had directed the police to examine the case.
Recently, a team led by Inspector Navaneethakrishnan zeroed in on the suspects and interrogations revealed that Muthu was abducted by a four-member gang in a car, forced to consume liquor and later beaten to death. The gang poured petrol and set his body ablaze in Panangaadu area, near Sayalkudi. The police recovered his mortal remains and a DNA examination concluded that the body was of Muthu’s.
Police said the murder was a fallout of a failed property deal for which Muthu had taken ₹50,000 as an advance.
The gang had comprised of Gunasekaran, his relatives Vedamanickam, Paul Pounraj and Joseph Rajan. While Gunasekaran died in 2020 due to cancer, police arrested the remaining three accused based on their confessions.
The police also said that Gunasekaran, Paul Pounraj and Joseph Rajan figured in a double murder case reported in 2015 and that a trial in the case was under way at the fast track court in Ramanathapuram district.
All the three were remanded in judicial custody.
