E-Paper
Two minors among three arrested over cop’s murder in Tamil Nadu
One of the accused was identified as 19-year-old P Manikandan and the minor boys are aged 9 and 14. “The minors are accomplices of Manikandan in the murder case. They were with him and helped him,” said a senior police official of Trichy who did not wish to be named.
Three people, including two minor boys, were arrested on Monday within 24 hours in connection with the murder of special sub-inspector S Boominathan of Tamil Nadu’s Trichy district, police said.
One of the accused was identified as 19-year-old P Manikandan and the minor boys are aged 9 and 14. “The minors are accomplices of Manikandan in the murder case. They were with him and helped him,” said a senior police official of Trichy who did not wish to be named. “Enquiries are going on and we will produce the minors before the Juvenile Justice Board and they will decide on where to send them. There are two homes in Trichy for children in conflict in law. The adult will be sent to jail.” A statement from the police said that the trio have been booked under section 302 (murder) of the IPC.
Boominathan, 50, was murdered while he was on patrolling duty by the thieves he was chasing in the wee hours of Sunday at 3am. Boominathan along with another police beat officer, Chitravel, saw suspected goat thieves on a motorbike. When police tried to stop them the suspects didn’t and tried to escape when Boominathan went ahead of his colleague on a two-wheeler and began chasing them. When he managed to intercept them, the suspected thieves assaulted him on his head using a machete. Boominathan bled out to death on the spot. Police have seized the weapon and the motorbike.
Following the murder, four special teams were formed to investigate the crime. Police received a tip off that the main accused Manikandan was hiding in Pudukottai district and on investigating him they found the other two minors. Boominathan was an SSI in the Navalpattu police station in Trichy and is survived by his wife and son. He was cremated with state honours and gun salute. On Sunday, chief minister M K Stalin issued a solatium of ₹1 crore to Boominathan’s family and also a government job for one of his family members.
