Chennai: A sub-contractor and a hireling were detained by Chennai police in connection with the murder of a vice-president of a Gujarat-based power transmission company here.
The deceased, Venkateshwaralu, (51), was hell-bent on reforming the tender procedures and removing any leeway for corruption in the entire process.
The measures, which Venkateshwaralu took in the company, not only earned him the wrath of his peers, but also took a direct hit on their perks enjoyed outside the company.
On detecting irregularities in the award of company’s contracts, the vice-president threw his weight on it and got them cancelled.
A particular sub-contractor had lost his deal of carrying out future projects valued at Rs 20 crore since the materials supplied earlier by him were sub-standard.
“He had cancelled at least a dozen contracts since he assumed charge as VP of the company.
He had also started his probe into the previous projects that the particular sub-contractor had undertaken on behalf of the company”, said a senior police official privy to investigation.
Police maintained they have secured two persons in connection with the murder.
The names of the two were not revealed. The contractor is suspected to have teamed up with the peers of Venkateshwaralu and hatched a plan to kill him. The conspirators had hired the hit squad from Tirunelveli.
On Monday night, Venkateshwaralu was heading home when he preferred to meet his physician in his neighbourhood.
The two-member hit squad on his trail intercepted him when he walked towards the car from the poly-clinic on Kumaran Colony III street at Vadapalani.
The duo identified Venkateshwaralu and hacked him with sickles. Arumugam, car driver, in his bid to intervene, reached out to Venkateshwaralu, only to get injured. Venkateshwaralu who suffered multiple injuries died on the spot.
