Man killed as business deal goes wrong, 6 arrested

CHENNAI: A 36-year-old man was killed and his body dumped in a playground at Madhanagkuppam near Korattur on Wednesday. Police said the murder was the fallout of a business deal that went sour. Six people have been arrested in connection with the case.
The murder came to light when passersby alerted police of an unidentified body and recovered it. Police identified the victim as Shankar Ganesh from Velankanni with his drving licence.
M Karunakaran, 32, Govindaraj, 34, M Senthil Kumar, 33, M Kalimuthu, 29, R Sudhakar, 24 and M Vinod, 25 killed Shankar when he failed to deliver iridium, a metal used to electronic items, which he had promised to provide.
They had paid an advance of Rs 20lakh.
The accused told police that Shankar Ganesh had ignored their calls when he failed to deliver iridium and later demanded 10 lakh more.
The gang then called Shankar to a playground in Korattur and hacked him to death, said police.
Police said the culprits were traced based on information found in a diary in Shankar Ganesh's pocket.A team arrested them as they were getting ready to leave the city.
Iridium is a bright silvery-white metal, with a slight yellowish cast. The metal is used for hardening platinum and in electronics items and in jewellery industry.
It is also used in crucibles and other applications that need tolerance to high temperatures.
Iridium is combined with osmium to form an alloy used in compass bearings and for pen tips. Goldsmiths is suspected to be mixing Iridium with gold while making jewellery.