Missing man found dead in septic tank

Chennai: More than two months after the murder of a 26-year-old hearing and speech-impaired person, his body was found dumped in a septic tank in Tiruvallur. Two men, one of whom was the victim's co-worker, have been arrested. The case, idling at the Puzhal police station since Dec 26, came to life after Madras high court passed an order on a habeas corpus filed by the victim's relative.Mahendran, a native of Tenkasi district, worked at a textile firm godown in Madhavaram. He disappeared one day, and there was no trace of him. After waiting for about 20 days, a missing complaint was lodged by his relative with the Puzhal police on Dec 26. Since there was no progress in the investigation, a habeas corpus petition was filed in the Madras high court seeking directions to trace Mahendran. Following court orders, a special team led by assistant commissioner Shibu Kumar examined Mahendran's mobile phone records and found frequent contact with his colleague Lawrence, 30, who was also hearing impaired. Call records revealed that Lawrence's phone was used to contact the victim around the time of his disappearance. An analysis showed another person, Vaidyanathan, 43, also used Lawrence's phone after the victim's disappearance.Police detained both Lawrence and Vaidyanathan for inquiry. During interrogation, conducted with the help of a sign language interpreter, Lawrence told the investigation officers that he killed the victim following a personal dispute and concealed the body in a septic tank.Based on their statement, the police team fished out Mahendran's body from the septic tank and sent it to the Tiruvallur Govt Hospital for postmortem. The duo was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.The accused lured Mahendran to Lawrence's house in Putlur under the pretext of helping him change his Aadhaar card address to Tiruvallur. After consuming alcohol together, Lawrence and Vaidyanathan strangled Mahendran with a belt. They then tied his body with a rope and dumped it in a septic tank near Lawrence's residence.