CHENNAI: The probe into the murder of a migrant worker whose body was found stuffed in a gunny bag by the road in a residential neighbourhood in Adyar on Monday has led to an unexpected turn as suspects in the case have reportedly told the police that they also murdered the man's wife and two-year-old son and disposed of their bodies too.
While the child's body was recovered by the canal near Kasturba Nagar MRTS railway station, a search is on for the woman's body at the Perungudi dump as suspects allegedly told the police that they threw her body in a dustbin.
City police sources said that five migrant workers — Sikandar (33), Narender Kumar (45), Rabindranath Tagore (45), Bikas (24) and another person — all from Bihar, have been arrested in connection with the murder.
On the 77th Republic Day, the Adyar police were alerted about the blood-stained sack found outside an apartment at Indira Nagar 1st avenue. The police found the body of a man wrapped in two blankets, his hands tied behind his back and there were cut injuries on his face.
The police scanned the CCTV footage in the neighbourhood and found the sack being carried on a two-wheeler. Police sources said that investigators found a piece of paper with phone numbers inside the deceased man's pant pockets, which helped them zero in on his identity. The 24-year-old from Bihar had arrived in Chennai along with his family earlier this month, police sources said.
An acquaintance of the deceased had allegedly introduced him to the suspects, who were to arrange a job for him as a security guard.
According to police, on Sunday night, the man was having drinks with the suspects when they allegedly made lewd remarks at his wife, who was in the next room. The accused hit him, leading to his death, and then murdered his 21-year-old wife and two-year-old child. The police are probing whether the woman was sexually assaulted too.
While sources said that the murders were committed on the premises of a technical institute in Taramani, there has been no official word on the scene of crime.
While the man’s body was dumped in Indira Nagar, the child's body was recovered from the bushes along Buckingham canal near Madhya Kailash junction.
At Perungudi dump, police personnel spent the day combing through tonnes of garbage to find the woman's body. "The suspects told investigators that they dumped the woman's body in a dustbin. We estimate that at least 500 truck loads of garbage had been dumped here (at Perungudi) since then," said a police officer.
The woman's body was not retrieved until Wednesday evening. Further investigations are under way.