Poisoned food, not liquor, claimed 4 lives in Sivakasi

SIVAKASI: It was a poison-laced chicken dish, not liquor, that killed four people at Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district on Sunday. The dish was prepared by the sister of one of the victims. Police have arrested the woman, identified as D Valli, 33. Six more people who consumed the dish are responding well to treatment in hospital. Police said though her brother Murugan, 27, was Valli’s sole target, the plan had gone awry as he shared the food with his friends at a booze party.Police sources said Valli had parted ways with her husband and was residing with her mother in her parents’ house. The woman, who worked in a printing press, had developed a relationship with her employer. Murugan wanted his sister to break the relationship. When she refused, he began to harass her. The sources said Murugan, who was a ganja addict, also tried to sexually misbehave with Valli. Murugan shared dish with friends at partyEnraged, Valli hatched the plan to eliminate him. She prepared chicken gravy on Sunday and laced it with pesticide. She left the dish for him and went to a temple near Sattur along with her mother. When she returned around noon, she found Murugan in an unconscious state. He was rushed to hospital, where doctors declared he was brought dead.Murugan had shared the chicken dish with his friends who took part in a booze party at the Sirukulam tank. A Gautham, 16; Mohammed Ibrahim, 22; and M Ganesh, 20, who were also found unconscious, were later declared dead at the Sivakasi government hospital. “Those who consumed less of the dish have regained consciousness and responded to the police inquiry. Two others are still in intensive care,” said a police officer.Sivakasi town police, which had registered a case under CrPC – Section 174 (suspicious death), changed the case to Section IPC 302 (punishment for murder). Meanwhile, a couple of Tasmac shops, which were locked by the officials suspecting that it was liquor that caused the deaths, were thrown open on Monday. The villagers, who too thought adulterated liquor had claimed the lives, had staged a protest on Sunday.