Date:26/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/26/stories/2008092659540300.htm

Tamil Nadu

Murder case resolved, 3 held

Special Correspondent

Cash rewards given to the special teams

Accused decided to commit robbery
for easy money
They all had meals with the victim before the crime

TAMBARAM: Four days after the gruesome murder of a 62-year-old man at his house in Amar Nagar in Kadaperi near Tambaram, police on Thursday arrested three youths, all 24-year-old, in this connection.

Benjamin Bernard, a native of Kanyakumari district, from where the victim Ramaswamy also hailed, and two of his friends, Raja David and Achuthan, had conspired to commit the murder, Chennai Suburban Police Commissioner S. R. Jangid told reporters on Thursday evening.

Soon after the murder, six special teams were formed and one of them detained Arun, a relative of the victim. After over two days of interrogation, he was let off.

Making friends with victim

But , based on his information that a person called Benjamin had visited the house Friday evening, police started searching for him.

Investigations revealed that Benjamin had befriended Ramaswamy during a stay in Kanyakumari and the latter was reported to have assured him of a good job. Benjamin, working for a private firm in T.Nagar, used to call on Ramaswamy occasionally. He was staying on rented premises in Selaiyur near Tambaram along with his two friends. They decided to commit robbery for easy money.

Benjamin had gone to the house of Ramaswamy on Friday evening, along with his friends, but they dropped the plan as the latter’s relative, Arun, was also present.

They all came back on Saturday and had meals with Ramaswamy.

A little later, one of them stuffed Ramaswamy’s face with a piece of cloth, while another hit his head with a hammer. They then took him to the bathroom, slit his throat and opened the tap to wipe away the clues.

House ransacked

They ransacked the house and took away gold jewels weighing 12 sovereigns, silver anklets, a couple of cellphones, passbook, cheque leaves, passport and other documents.

Following their arrest in the city, police also recovered the tools they had used to commit the gruesome crime and the money they had got after pledging the jewels.

Mr. Jangid gave cash rewards to the special teams for nabbing the accused in four days.

V.Varadaraju, Deputy Commissioner of Police, St. Thomas Mount, was also present.