City Police have arrested suspects in all three murders of home-alone women reported earlier this week. At a media briefing, city police commissioner S. George asserted that the prime suspects arrested were either intimate friends or neighbours. Reiterating the efficacy of crime prevention measures undertaken by the city police, George said the cops would work together with the labour department and manpower suppliers to keep a tab on the migrant labourers. Though the cops could not possibly have prevented the murders committed by people known to the victims, the top cop said that pro-active measures are being set in motion. They are aimed at ensuring the safety of all senior citizens and home-alone elderly people.
Paramour arrested in woman advocate’s murder:
A 34-year-old marketing executive of an insurance company was arrested on Friday by the City Police in connection with the murder of advocate Lakshmi Sudha (59), which took place on Wednesday. The arrested person - Karthikeyan (34), senior marketing manager, Future Genarali Insurance, of Nolambur - was in a relationship with the deceased. Police said Karthikeyan, who ran a massage parlour before joining the insurance sector, got acquainted to Lakshmi Sudha through a common female friend and client of the massage parlour. Later, the duo worked together in Kotak Mahindra in 2008 and their friendship continued until 2015.
Preliminary investigations revealed Karthikeyan’s attempt to mitigate his relationship after he got married to another woman last year did not go down well with Lakshmi. Karthikeyan was held for ransom by Lakshmi to keep the relationship going and she threatened to make their intimacy public by revealing it to his wife and family.
Due to her pressure, Karthikeyan kept visiting her as and when she insisted. One such meeting took place on October 31 and the victim forced Karthikeyan to make love to her. Karthikeyan then stabbed Lakshmi with a kitchen knife on her upper back and neck multiple times. He also injured his hands in the process of stabbing. Lakshmi was found dead by her relative Vidya on the afternoon of November 2. Karthikeyan had confessed to the crime during custodial interrogation and was remanded to judicial custody.
Nepalese man held for sexagenarian’s murder:
A 34-year-old-man who migrated here from Nepal was arrested on Friday by the City Police in connection with the murder-for-gain of a home-alone senior citizen on Habibullah road. He was working as a live-in security-cum-manservant in the house opposite to that of the deceased for the past 3 years. Prior to that, he had been sacked from the office of a jewellery chain, also on Habibullah road, after 2 years’ service.
Police said the suspect, identified B. Gorak Singh, of Dadeldhura district, Nepal, had chosen Shanthi (60), as his target after getting to know her and her entire routine. The cops, who came to the conclusion that a three-member gang had been involved in the murder after viewing the surveillance tapes, zeroed in on Gorak Singh as he was in possession of one of the mobile numbers obtained through forged documents. Tower dump analysis and the communication among the gang members over mobile phones led to his arrest. The gang had purchased a crowbar from Parry’s to help them break-in.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Gorak Singh brought 3 accomplices - Maan Singh (37), Lalith Bahadur Oli (30) and an unidentified person from Nepal - three months ago to carry out the murder. The trio were working in a restaurant in Luz Corner during day and had reconnoitred more than half a dozen times at night in the victim’s area. The trio took new mobile numbers using falsified documents with the help of a dealer from Triplicane. On October 29, the three hit squad members broke into the house from the cement window grille late at night while one stood watch outside the house.
As the woman resisted their attempt and raised an alarm, the trio gagged her with a cloth and smothered her to death. The trio rummaged through the house and decamped with Rs 2.5 lakhs cash, of which nearly Rs 50,000 were soiled and mutilated ones. After the strike, the gang handed over Rs 45,000 as Gorak Singh’s cut and went on their way. Efforts are on to trace the rest of the gang members. Gorak Singh lives with his wife Janaki (30), and their two children. He was drawing a monthly salary of Rs 15,000 and his employer is a person named Parthiban.
Tenant, paramour held for murder of landlord:
A 35-year-old-woman who was a tenant in a building in Mackey's Garden and her paramour were arrested on Friday by the City Police for strangling her landlord to death besides stealing the victim's jewels. The deceased, Dhanalakshmi (48), had learnt that her tenant, Suganthi, was into the flesh trade and was allowing customers to come to her rented portion, according to police sources. Police said Dhanalakshmi wanted to evict Suganthi and so raised the rent. Since Suganthi had outstanding dues to settle with neighbours and was behind on rent, she plotted the robbery-cum-murder of Dhanalakshmi with the help of one Yovan (26), also a resident of Mackey's Garden.
On October 1, at around 1.15 pm, Suganthi invited Dhanalakshmi to come downstairs from the first floor to her ground floor portion on the pretext of paying the outstanding dues. As an unsuspecting Dhanalakshmi walked in, Yovan who was lying in wait inside the house pinned her down and he and Suganthi strangled Dhanalakshmi to death. They removed all the valuables from the victim and tucked them away. As they did not know how to dispose of the body, they retained the body until midnight the next day. They had sprinkled chilli powder and poured a lot of perfume on the body of the deceased hoping to mitigate the stench, but in vain. As other residents began complaining about the foul smell, the duo dragged the body and dumped it in an abandoned and dilapidated hut behind the row house owned by Dhanalakshmi. The murder came to light only on Thursday.
The needle of suspicion fell on Suganthi since her house was cleaned using a chemical cleaning agent. Suganthi tried to wriggle out of the situation by claiming that she had to clean the house due to flooding while no other house in that building had reported any inundation. Suganthi's husband took their two children and moved to his native place Sirkazhi due to her way of life. Yovan used to supply drinking water cans in the Thousand Lights neighbourhood.
