Murder of ex-MP’s wife: Son nabbed in Delhi after 3 months

After collecting information from his hometown, Uthupalayam in Salem district, Shastri Nagar police traced the suspect, K Praveen (35), to Delhi and located him using mobile phone signals. A team led by inspector PM Palavesam secured Praveen from a hotel at Aruna Nagar, Timarpur, in Delhi around 1.30 pm on Monday and produced him before the nearby magistrate court. “He will be brought back to Chennai by train following the procedure and then remanded in judicial custody,” said a senior police officer.

The officer said Praveen was working at a private firm in Delhi and added that the further details such as why he murdered his mother and how he landed in Delhi would be known only after interrogation.

Rathinam was found dead with several stab marks on her chest in her house facing the Elliots Beach in Besant Nagar on the night of April 14, the of Tamil New Year. Her daughter Sudha from Tirupur had lodged a complaint at Shastri Nagar police station stating that it was Praveen who murdered her as she heard him fighting with Rathinam even as they were conversing over phone.

With Praveen remaining missing since then, a look-out notice was issued to all airports as he had returned to Chennai from UK only a month before allegedly committing the murder. A month into the investigation, police arrested a couple Sathyajyothi, an auto driver, and his wife Rani, for allegedly giving shelter to the accused.

Now with the arrest of Praveen, the case has progressed to the next step in the investigation. Rathinam’s husband R Kolanthaivelu had been an MP from Tiruchengode in 1976 when AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran was the Chief Minister.