One held for jewel theft by digging out corpse in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Police on Tuesday detained one of the three accused in connection with the theft of a gold chain from a corpse after exhuming the body of a fish vendor from a cemetery.

The detained suspect has been identified as Karthikeyan (27), also known as "Current Karthik", an electrician responsible for maintenance work at the cemetery. Police said he assisted two other accused, Manikandan (25) and Sakthivel (26), in carrying out the crime.

According to the police, the trio exhumed the body of Nagaraj, a fish vendor from Sowripalayam, who was buried on June 7 after succumbing to a brief illness. Nagaraj was fond of wearing a 3.5-sovereign gold chain with a fish-shaped pendant, and his family chose to bury him with the ornament.

The theft came to light during the 16th-day death rites when Nagaraj's son, Venkatesh Kumar, and other family members visited the cemetery to perform customary rituals. They noticed signs that the soil had been dug out and lodged a complaint with the Peelamedu police, suspecting foul play.

Following an investigation, police detained Karthikeyan, a native of Nagapattinam district. Preliminary inquiries revealed that he had acted as a lookout at the cemetery entrance, warning the other two accused of any approaching visitors while they dug up the grave and removed the jewellery. Police further suspect that he received Rs 30,000 as his share from the sale of the stolen chain. Efforts are under way to apprehend Manikandan and Sakthivel, who are on the run.