Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Double murder rocks panic-stricken Vellore

By P.V.V. Murthi

VELLORE April 22. Close on the heels of Friday's dacoity in a jewellery shop and killing of three persons in the heart of Vellore town, a 37-year-old housewife and her 12-year-old son were found strangled in their house in the R.M.S. Colony at Kazhinjur, near Katpadi yesterday afternoon. The incident has added to panic among the people of Vellore, who are yet to recover from the shock of the heist and shootings.

According to the police, neighbours found the door of the house open with the bodies of Premakumari (wife of V.C. Kumaresan, an official of the State Bank of India, Vellore) and Prashanth lying in two rooms. Preliminary investigations pointed to a possibility of murder by a known person. Mr. Kumaresan was away in Chennai for an official training programme.

The police found three tumblers with traces of coffee and a cool drink bottle on the dining table, giving room for a suspicion that three persons had drunk coffee just before the incident. Investigation showed that except a gold chain and four gold bangles worn by Premakumari, no jewel was stolen. The body of one of the victims was lying close to a steel bureau with the key hanging on it. All jewels kept inside and about Rs. 10,000 in cash were found intact. There was no external evidence of rape, N. Rajasekharan, Superintendent of Police, Vellore, told The Hindu. Fingerprints were taken from the scene and the police were awaiting the postmortem report to get clues to the motive for murder.

There were a main grill gate and two doors, and any person could enter the house only after both the doors were opened. Premakumari would always open the door only after ascertaining the identity of the visitor, by looking through the window, it is said.

Meanwhile, preliminary investigation of Friday's murders also did not appear a property offence, given that the culprits shot at two other owners of the Naga Jewel Palace in Main Bazaar, after killing N. Srinivasan, owner, though the brothers, N. Rajesh and N. Rajendra Babu, had offered the jewels to the culprits.

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