2008 Ashok Nagar triple murder: revisiting an unfinished case of brutal killings and a flawed probe Premium

Revisiting the unsolved 2008 Ashok Nagar triple murder in Chennai, highlighting theft, brutality, and investigative failures.

It was early morning on November 20, 2008, when Unnikrishnan, a resident of Ashok Nagar, approached the two-storey house on Kannadasan Street to check whether his friend, who lived there, would join him for a morning walk.

The door of a car parked outside the premises was open, with the key still in the knob. He called out to his friend, but there was no response from inside. He climbed to the first floor and found the main door ajar. Inside, his friend was lying in a pool of blood. His friend’s wife had also been murdered. To add to the shock, their domestic worker, a 17-year-old girl, had been smothered to death.

The victims were S. Saravanan (74), former Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN); his wife, S. Kasthuri (73), a retired Under Secretary in the Home Department; and the domestic worker, K. Inbarasi (17). They were found with multiple stab injuries on the second floor of their house on Dr. Natesan Salai.

Though the women were still wearing their jewellery, two almirahs had been ransacked. Saravanan’s body was found in the kitchen, while Kasthuri and Inbarasi were in a bedroom. The police said the scene suggested Saravanan had run into the kitchen to escape the attackers. He had probably tried to resist, as several defensive wounds were found on his hands.

As news of the triple murder spread, residents gathered outside the house. The crime sent shockwaves through the Ashok Nagar locality that Thursday.

The then Commissioner of Police, K. Radhakrishnan — who had taken charge just two days earlier — visited the house and formed 10 special teams to crack the case. The teams worked under the direct supervision of the then Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), A.K. Viswanathan.