Peddler killed by ganja traffickers, four held as body washes ashore

Chennai

While the case could have taken more days to crack, one of the suspects made it easier for police since he reached the Saidapet court to surrender and fled after informing an advocate there that he murdered the victim, R Mageshwaran.

The deceased R Mageshwaran of Greenways Road, a BCA graduate, was found missing on Sunday morning, and her mother Panjavarnam lodged a complaint at Abiramapuram police station the same night.

Meanwhile, a bloated human body washed ashore at Foreshore Estate beach on Tuesday morning and Panjavarnam confirmed it to be Mageshwaran. While the body was sent for post-mortem to the Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH), one Karthik of Annai Sathya Nagar reached the Saidapet court on Tuesday afternoon claiming that he murdered Mageshwaran in a drunken brawl and pushed his body into the Adyar river.

However, Abiramapuram police, who reached the court, found him missing and launched a hunt for him since he was a history-sheeter. He was secured from a hideout overnight and based on his inputs, three others — K Manikandan (19) of Pallikaranai, R Vicky (23) of RA Puram, S Dharma (23) of Mylapore — were also secured.

Investigation revealed that the trio attacked Mageshwaran after inviting him to a ganja party since he sold tablets for drug abuse in areas where the accused thrived. After Mageshwaran died in a knife attack, they took his body in an autorickshaw and dumped it at the river mouth, said police. All four were remanded in judicial custody and a hunt has been launched for two others.