Murder accused ends life by suicide in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: A construction worker, wanted by police in connection with his co-worker’s murder at Allappalayam near Annur on January 9, died by suicide near Lovedale railway station in the Nilgiris on January 14.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that three construction workers – C Ashok Kumar, 45, of Rathinapuri in Coimbatore; V Sathish, 22, of Manalur in Nagapattinam; and K Murugaiyan, 72, of Chinnathambur in Nagapattinam - were working and staying in a site belonging to Balakrishnan at Sri Thirumurugan Nagar, Allappalayam.

On January 9 night, an argument broke out between them when they were consuming liquor at the site.

In a fit of rage, Sathish and Murugaiyan assaulted Ashok Kumar with a crowbar on his head and murdered him. Later, the duo buried the body near the construction site.

While Sathish escaped from the site on January 14, Murugaiyan went to his hometown the same night after informing the site engineer that Ashok Kumar had gone to his hometown.

The murder came to light on Wednesday evening after locals informed the VAO of Allappalayam M Nagaraj that a foul smell was emanating from a construction site belonging to Balakrishnan.

After registering a case under Section 174 CrPC (suspicious death), Annur police exhumed the body on Thursday evening and confirmed that it was the body of Ashok Kumar. Later, a postmortem was conducted at the spot, and the body was handed over to the family.

Meanwhile, Annur police have learned that one of the accused in the murder, Sathish, died by suicide near Lovedale railway station on January 14. The other accused, Murugaiyan, was arrested on Thursday night. Police said Sathish could have ended his life over fear of arrest in connection with the murder.