TN police unearth skeleton of man murdered in 2018, arrest accused

CHENNAI: Police on Thursday arrested three men for the murder of a man in Kancheepuram district in 2018.
The arrested have been identified as T Arun, 66, autorickshaw driver N Harikrishnan, 42, and their friend S Kasinathan, 70, a resident of Gingee in Villupuram. Another accused Rajesh Kannan, 40, was arrested in July. They murdered Senthilkumar of Manimangalam.
A police source said Senthil's mother M Padmini filed a man missing complaint at Manimangalam police station on August 8.Her son had been missing since February 2018. Padmini also filed a habeas corpus petition (HCP) in the Madras high court.
Earlier in July, Rajesh Kannan was arrested by the Ayanavaram police for kidnapping. He was lodged in Puzhal prison. Rajesh was the car driver of Arun and Senthil.
Inquiries revealed that Rajesh was the mastermind behind the murder. Rajesh confessed that he had murdered Senthilkumar along with Arun, Kasinathan and Harikrishnan.
Kancheepuram district superintendent of police D Shanmugapriya said, “Rajesh Kannan’s police statement came handy for us to solve the case immediately.”
The Manimangalam police said Senthil’s father, M Moongilan alias Subbaiyan, divided his property and registered them in in the names of his two. Senthil was unhappy as his brother, Rajkumar, got a higher share.
Taking advantage of this situation, Rajesh urged Senthil to murder his elder brother. Senthil murdered his brother, and he was later sent to prison.
While he was away, Rajesh developed an illicit affair with Senthil’s wife, Menaka.
Later, Rajesh murdered Senthil with the help of Arun, Senthil's father-in-law, Harikrishnan, and Kasinathan at Gingee in Villupuram in February 2018.
Later that year, on July 20, Senthil’s father was murdered by a gang.
Padmini, who was the sole owner of the whole property, was kidnapped by Rajesh Kannan and Menaka at gunpoint while she was staying at her relative’s house in Ayanavaram in 2019.
The Ayanavaram police arrested Rajesh in July this year in connection with the kidnap case.
A magistrate court remanded the arrested suspects in judicial custody on Friday.
Based on the confession of the four men, a police team unearthed the skeleton from Alampoondi village near Villupuram in presence of revenue officials on Thursday.
Police seized Senthil’s shirt with blood stains. He sustained four stab injuries. Apart from it, they found Senthil’s driving licence, his debit card and mobile phone.
The police are inquiring if Meneka had any role in the murder.