CHENNAI: Two people, including the man who acted as broker in a land deal, were arrested for attacking and murdering a 70-year-old woman to rob the money that she got by selling the land, in Surapattu on Thursday night.
According to the police, they received information from the local residents around 8.45 pm on Thursday stating that two unidentified men who came in an auto-rickshaw had attacked the victim, Ponnammal (70), a resident of Surapattu.
The officials from Ambattur police station, who rushed to the spot, discovered Ponnammal's body with her hands and feet bound by cloth, her house ransacked, with a bureau and cupboards found open and their contents scattered.
Based on a complaint filed by the victim's fifth daughter, Gajalakshmi (45) of Avadi, a case was registered at the Puthur police station. The body was subsequently sent to Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination.
Palani, who acted as a mediator for the land sale, believed Ponnammal had kept the Rs 31 lakh advance amount at home and conspired with his friend Thulasi Das to rob her, said the police
During their investigations, the police found that Ponnammal had been living alone at the house since the death of her husband, Damodaran, in 2006. She has six children, all married and residing separately.
Further inquiries revealed that Ponnammal had recently arranged to sell a family property. She had received an advance payment of Rs 31 lakh, of which she distributed Rs 5 lakh each to her six children and kept the remaining Rs 1 lakh with herself.
When they checked the CCTV footage from the night of the incident, the police found two unidentified men entering the house around 7.45 pm and leaving around 8.45 pm. The officials identified and arrested two suspects, Palani of Surapattu, a 44-year-old who is known in several aliases, including Selvam, Kajamohideen, and Madhavan, and auto-rickshaw driver Thulasi Das (51) of Vyasarpadi.
When they were interrogated, the suspects allegedly told the investigators that Palani, who lived in the same area as the victim, had been acting as a mediator for the land sale. Knowing that Ponnammal had received an advance payment, Palani believed that the entire amount was still in the house. He then allegedly conspired with his friend Thulasi Das to steal the money.
However, after coming there to rob the old woman, they learnt that the advance payment had already been given to the daughters and the victim via bank transfer, leaving no cash in the home. Frustrated that their plan did not work out, the duo allegedly murdered Ponnammal and fled after taking the gold bangles and earrings she was wearing.
The stolen jewelry has been recovered from the accused. Both suspects have been remanded in judicial custody.