Three held in Krishnagiri for murdering businessman from West Mogappair

Kundrathur police arrest three suspects for kidnapping and murdering businessman over government job scam, leading to arrests of 14 others.

The Kundrathur police have arrested three suspects who allegedly kidnapped and murdered a 54-year-old businessman for cheating them of money by promising to get them government jobs.

The police identified the victim as K. Venkatesan of Jaswant Nagar in West Mogappair. He worked at a leading car manufacturer in Sriperumpudur and later became a coconut wholesaler. His wife Lakshmi, 50, was a teacher who had taken voluntary retirement.

Last Sunday, the couple dropped off their two sons at an examination centre in Poonthalam in a car as Chandrakumar, the younger, was writing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. The couple then left for Salem to allegedly settle a land dispute. However, they did not return and their mobile phones had been switched off. One of the sons lodged a complaint with the Kundrathur police seeking to trace his parents. Kundrathur police inspector E. Velu took up the case for investigation.

The son told the police that he had received a call from his mother asking them to come to the house of S. Ganeshan, 47, a school teacher and district secretary of the Tamilnadu Asiriyar Kootan, in Sunnalampatti, near Uthangarai, in Krishnagiri. A team of police personnel accompanied the sons to the village and surrounded Ganeshan’s house. Ganeshan and two others, who attempted to flee, were nabbed. Further investigation revealed that they had murdered Venkatesan.

A police officer said Venkatesan had claimed that he was close to bureaucrats in the Centre and State governments and that he could get them government jobs for a price. He had received money to the tune of ₹12.5 crore from several persons, including Ganeshan. However, he failed to keep his promise and delayed returning the money.

So, the cheated parties planned to either recover their money from Venkatesan or usurp his properties. They used Vijayaragavan, a real estate broker acquainted with Venkatesan, to lure him to Sooramangalam in Salem. When Venkatesan and his wife arrived, the suspects beat them up to get back their money. While Venkatesan died due to physical torture, Ms. Lakshmi was confined in a room. Venkatesan’s body was buried near a stone quarry, the police said.

They continued to torture Ms. Lakshmi to usurp the properties. She told them that her sons needed to be present to execute the deeds, and so, they allowed her to contact them over phone. Following this, the sons informed the police, who accompanied them to the village.