Man found dead with smashed face, police suspect love affair

Passers-by noticed a man lying in a pool of blood alongside an abandoned two-wheeler near Tiruvidanthai off East Coast Road on Wednesday and alerted the Mamallapuram police. 

A team from there retrieved the body and sent it for post-mortem examination to Chengalpattu Government Hospital. He had stab injuries on his neck, believed to be made with a broken liquor bottle, while the man’s face has been smashed with stone.

The deceased was identified as P Arun Prakash of Neyveli, who worked as a sales representative of a construction firm in Oragadam. He would visit an under-construction project in Pooncheri every day, police said. An abandoned two-wheeler was also retrieved from the spot, but it was found to be a stolen one. Police suspect that he could have been kidnapped and murdered by a gang of men.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that Arun Prakash was in relationship with a girl in his hometown, who belong to a different community, for about three years. But the girl parents were opposed to it. In the meanwhile, Arun Prakash left to Dubai for work but had recently returned to Chennai and found a job for himself.

After finding out that last call from Arun Prakash’s phone had been made to the girl’s father, police inquired with him. But he reportedly told police that he received the call from anonymous persons, who told him they murdered him because he cheated two girls in the guise of relationship.

While police are interrogating the girl’s father, a hunt has been launched for the suspects. Further investigation is on.