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    Elderly couple killed, house help suspected

    A 68-year-old man and his 58-year-old live-in partner were found dead with their heads smashed with an iron rod near Avadi late on Monday night. The jewels in the house were missing and the police suspect the role of a couple from Andhra Pradesh, who joined as housemaid and gardener just two weeks ago.

    Elderly couple killed, house help suspected
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    Jagadeesan and Vilasini (left); Their house in Avadi

    Chennai

    The deceased were identified as Jagadeesan and Vilasini, both of them retired Central government employees. Police said that a carpenter Chandrasekar, who reached their house on Sekkadu Link Road near Ayyappa Nagar in Avadi around 8 am to complete a pending work, found the couple lying in a pool of blood inside the house.


    A couple from Andhra Pradesh, who were employed by Jagadeesan and were living in the outhouse, were also missing. The carpenter immediately alerted Jagadeesan’s brother. Based on his information, the Avadi police went to the spot and conducted an inquiry. Sources said that sniffer dogs were also brought and were on a trail till Avadi railway station, which is five kilometres away from the house, said sources.


    The main suspect has been identified as Suresh while his wife’s name is not known yet. The suspected couple also had a girl child, said the police. After the preliminary inquiry, the police said that the Andhra-based couple joined for work only two weeks ago and noted that Suresh has some cases pending against him.


    The police are investigating who introduced the Andhra couple to Jagadeesan. As Jagadeesan’s house is located on a one-acre plot, the couple was hired to take care of gardening as well as domestic work.


    Jagadeesan retired as superintendent from Government Central Press in Mint 10 years ago whileVilasini, who was his colleague, retired only a few months ago. Police said that Jagadeesan separated from his wife Sugumari, a retired education department official, 20 years ago and started living with Vilasini.


    The couple built the house near Avadi five years ago, reportedly with the savings of Vilasini. Jagadeesan had two sons with Sugumari, Priyesh Kumar and Karthik, who are married.


    While the bodies of the deceased were sent to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for autopsy, the Avadi police have registered a murder case and further inquiry is on. As the two dogs present in Jagadeesan’s house were quiet when the incident took place, the police strongly believe that familiar persons murdered the couple and have launched a hunt for Suresh and his wife.

    Murder suspect assisted us in work: Carpenter 
    Nataraj, the carpenter who found the elderly couple dead, told DT Next that the suspect Suresh helped him and his co-workers on Monday. “Jagadeesan introduced him as Suresh and he helped us during the electrical works. Jagadeesan asked us to come on Tuesday to complete the remaining work. I had sent two of my employees around 8 am and I reached around 9 am. When they told me that Jagadeesan had not woken up yet, I grew suspicious as he usually woke up early. I pushed the door open and found them dead. I immediately alerted Jagadeesan’s brother who lives in Kumaran Nagar, Avadi,” he said. 
    “Jagadeesan told us that the Andhra couple were helpful. Suresh took care of the gardening work while his wife cooked and cleaned the house. Previously, he had employed a north Indian couple and later a group of youngsters. As they often got drunk and created nuisance, he replaced them with the Andhra couple. Suresh accompanied Jagadeesan wherever the latter went,” said Komala, wife of Jagadeesan’s brother. 
    Meanwhile, Priyesh Kumar, the elder son of Jagadeesan from his previous marriage, said that said that they were not close to their father after Jagadeesan separated from Sugumari when he was in Class 12. “I own an event management company while my brother Karthik is employed in Nigeria. Though my parents are separated, there were no fights. He equally divided the assets for me and my brother. He would attend the important family functions and we would visit him once a year. We don’t know what valuables were in the house,” he said.

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