Missing youth killed by friends

The two friends, Venkatesan and Ramesh, were arrested on Wednesday. During interrogation, the duo told the police that they were friends of A Avinash Bhushan (28), of Jyothi Nagar in Tiruvottiyur. The duo had planned to stage an abduction drama to get ransom from Bhushan’s father. As Bhushan did not agree to be a part of the abduction drama, they had murdered him.

The body of Bhushan will be exhumed on Thursday based on leads given by the accused. According to police, Bhushan went missing on September 7. Since he did not return home even after three days, his father Ajay Kumar, one of the contractors of CMRL, had lodged a complaint with Sathangadu police on September 10. 

Meanwhile, a stranger called Ajay Kumar over phone from Avinash’s number and demanded Rs 50 lakh as ransom to free his son. Following this, Ajay Kumar informed police  about the ransom call that was traced to a location in Sadayankuppam. 

When cops grilled Bhushan’s friends, one of them, Venkatesan, admitted to police of having murdered him along with another friend Ramesh. 

Venkatesan told police that after Avinash rejected the idea of abduction drama, he and Ramesh attacked Avinash with an iron rod and killed him on the spot. 

Two years ago, a similar incident was reported in the same locality in which a 16-year-old boy was murdered by his friends in an abduction drama, said a police official.