Chennai

The accused, Karthik, was remanded in judicial custody and his minor accomplice was sent to an observation home. Karthik was the husband of Manjula, the victim’s granddaughter, the police said.

The deceased, Valliammal of Gandhipuram in Vyasarpadi, was found dead at her house on February 22. On finding three lakh cash and seven sovereign gold jewellery missing from the cupboard, her grandson Suresh (28) had lodged a complaint at the Vysarpadi police station suspecting that she could have murdered for gain.

After the post-mortem report revealed that she was smothered to death, the police altered the case and began the investigation.

“On the day of the incident, Karthik and the teen reached Valliammal’s house when others were away for work and tried to steal the cash. When Valliammal caught them red-handed, the duo, fearing that they would be caught, smothered her using a pillow and fled the scene with the cash and gold jewellery,” the police said. The police grew suspicious of Karthik as he had bought a brand new bike and was evasive to queries. The bike, Rs 2 lakh in cash and seven sovereign gold jewellery were seized from him.

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