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DMK worker murder case: Two more held
Six persons, including Kumar’s neighbours Vinayagam, 47 and his wife, Karpagam,41, are already in police custody. Vinayagam’s relative Dravida Balaji, 50, and his wife, Amirtham, 48, are the latest to be arrested.
The Chennai City police Saturday arrested a couple in connection with the murder of DMK functionary Sampath Kumar in full public view here last week.
Six persons, including Kumar’s neighbours Vinayagam, 47 and his wife, Karpagam,41, are already in police custody. Vinayagam’s relative Dravida Balaji, 50, and his wife, Amirtham, 48, are the latest to be arrested here.
A case was registered based on a complaint by Kumar’s son, Gopinath. The accused have been booked under section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 147 (rioting), 148 (armed with a deadly weapon) and 302 (murder).
CCTV footage of the crime, which happened around 9.15 pm at one of the busiest localities in Chennai’s Anna Nagar shows two men on a bike colliding with Kumar and attacking him with machetes. What’s even more bizarre is that almost immediately more men join and attack Kumar multiple times while he is lying motionless on the arterial road even as cars and two-wheelers continue to pass them in the two-way road. “People assumed it’s an accident because he had fallen on the road yet, no one helped him. Sadly, that’s how bystanders are these days,” said inspector Rajeesh Babu. “But it was a food delivery boy who saw the crime and ran to the station and informed us, and we immediately rushed to the spot.”
The Anna Nagar police reached the scene and found Kumar dead. From his ID card, they found that he was attacked while he was on his way home in another locality. The post-mortem report of the deceased says that he died due to multiple injuries.
The 51-year-old DMK functionary was involved in a drinking water delivery business. “There are multiple motives in this case,” explained assistant commissioner of police Augustine Paul Sudhakar. Preliminary investigations have revealed that Kumar was suspected to have given a tip-off to special police about a criminal named Lenin in his locality, who was arrested last year for heinous crimes but is out on bail. Lenin reportedly often took refuge in Vinayagam’s house. “The neighbours had several civil disputes between them, and they used to quarrel often,” said Sudhakar. All this had driven Vinayagam, 47 to plan Kumar’s murder with his wife Karpagam,41, the police said.
The investigating team arrested Kumar’s neighbours Vinayagam, 47 and his wife, Karpagam,41, Vinayagam’s relative Dravida Balaji, 50 and his wife, Amirtham, 48. Four others surrendered in the case--Hari Kumar (21), Sridharan (25), Mohanavel (21) and Naveen Kumar (24). The police have also seized weapons, including two machetes.
“More arrests are likely to happen in this case. Lenin is absconding, and we are investigating if he had anything to do with this case behind the scenes,” said inspector Rajeesh Babu.
