Three persons who fled after committing a triple murder in Sowcarpet have been apprehended by a special team of police personnel near Solapur, Maharashtra, after a film-style chase.
On Wednesday night, Dileep Thalil Chand, 74, who ran a finance firm and his wife Pushpa Bhai, 68, and their son, Shithal Kumar, 42, natives of Rajasthan were found dead at their house on the first floor of a three-storey residential apartment on Vinayaga Maestri Street in Sowcarpet. Police said they were gunned down by the unidentified assailants. Five special teams were formed to trace the suspects
City Police Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal said, “Since the accused are from Pune, we contacted the Pune police and also sought assistance from Solapur since their location was identified as Solapur. We have conducted an interstate operation with the assistance of the police in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and have nabbed the three accused successfully near Solapur after a chase. They will be brought to the city after obtaining transit remand from a local court.”
At 3.30 a.m. on Friday, the special team led by inspector P. Jawahar and sub-inspector Ashok spotted a car and the suspects inside it, near Solapur, crossing them in the opposite direction. Upon spotting the car, the special team took a U-turn and chased it. After a short distance, they overtook the fleeing vehicle and intercepted it. The suspects -- Kalaish, 32, a brother of the prime accused Jayamala (daughter-in-law of Dileep Chand) and his associates -- Ravindranath Kher, 25, of Kolkata and Vijay Uttham Kamal, 28, of Pune, were apprehended.
Jayamala from Pune, and Shithal Kumar got married through a matrimonial website, 10 years ago. She complained of harassment, and was estranged from her husband and had left her matrimonial home last January. She was living with her two children and her parents in Pune. Kumar had filed a case in the city’s family court in this regard.
The Commissioner said both sides had preferred criminal complaints against each other in Chennai and Pune. Police got vital clues about the suspects from a criminal case which was under investigation by the Elephant Gate police following a prior complaint from the family alleging that a few persons came in an autorickshaw and threatened them. He said six persons -- Jayamala, her two brothers and three more persons who are friends -- came all the way from Pune during that incident.
“This was a planned murder by them. They came with a plan to murder and brought the weapons from Pune,” said Mr. Aggarwal. He added that three more persons including Jayamala, her brother Vilash , and one more suspect, who are still at large would be soon apprehended and a special team has been deputed to trace them. Additional Commissioner of Police, North, A. Arun said, “Our personnel have been working day and night to solve the case and are on the job to trace the remaining accused.”
Police recovered two weapons including a .32 bore revolver from Kailash and other suspects. Kailash allegedly confessed that Jayamala had been harassed by the family for a long time. They had taunted her about her caste and poor family background. Attempts to negotiate alimony with the family had failed. Annoyed over filing her in-laws filing a case against her, Jayamala and her brothers came down with three friends. Kailash and one of his friends fired five rounds and shot down three people before escaping in two cars, said police sources.
