Man hires gang to murder brother over land dispute

COIMBATORE: G Ramakrishnan, and his three accomplices were arrested on Tuesday for the murder of his brother Soundar Rajan, instigated by a dispute over land. Soundar Rajan's body had been fished out of Erimedu tank in Chinnavedampatti.
On investigation, police managed to identify the body, which had stab injuries on the face and neck. The naked body was floating in the tank.Assailants had stripped the body of clothes to make identification difficult. Liquor bottles were also found near the crime scene.
Commissioner of police TP Sundaramoorthy formed a special team led by D Suresh, inspector of police, Saravanampatti. The body was found to be that of G Soundar Rajan, 30, hailing from Thottipalayam near Saravanampatti. The accused were identified as G Ramakrishnan, 34, of Thottipalayam; A Selvaraj alias Karuppuselvam, 29, of Udayampalayam; P Balashankar alias Balaji, 21, of Ganapathy and C Babu alias Marudachalam, 27, of Nanjegoundanpudur.
According to police, the two brothers agreed to sell 1.5 acres of land worth about Rs 12 lakh. Ramakrishnan received Rs 5 lakh from a third party and gave Rs 2 lakh to his brother, Soundar Rajan. When Soundar Rajan demanded more money, Ramakrishan became angry and hired a gang to murder his brother. He paid the gang Rs 50,000 for the killing.
On Monday morning, Ramakrishnan asked his brother to go to a certain address in Saravanampatti if he wanted more money. Three of the accused took him drinking binge and murdered him using sharp iron rods. They also stabbed Soundar Rajan with knives.
"Soundar Rajan kept harassing his brother for money. Therefore, Ramakrishnan decided to kill him. This type of murder is very unusual in western Tamil Nadu as hired gangs are rare here," said Suresh.