CB-CID gets custody of Nellai murder accused

Amid tight security, the accused, S Karthikeyan (39) alias Karthik-son of the Adi Dravida wing State deputy secretary in the DMK, S Seeniammal, was produced before the Judicial Magistrate around 2.45 p.m. on Wednesday by the CB-CID team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar, sources said. Karthikeyan was held under detention in the murder case.

Three people, including ex-Mayor Uma Maheswari (65), her husband Murugasankaran (74), and their housemaid Mariammal (40) were found dead in the house at Rose Nagar near the government engineering college at Reddiarpatti in Tirunelveli district on July 23.

Days after the incident, the State government ordered a CB-CID probe. However, special teams formed by the Tirunelveli City Police had nabbed the accused and remanded him to fourteen-day judicial custody on July 31.

Producing the accused before the judicial magistrate court on Wednesday, the CB-CID in its petition sought seven days’ custody of Karthikeyan, which they claimed would be adequate to investigate the role of the accused.

However, the petitioner counsel raised objection. After hearing the arguments of both the parties, Judicial Magistrate Babu granted five days’ custody to the CB-CID to interrogate the accused. Further, the Magistrate directed the investigating team to produce the accused at 4.30 p.m. on August 12, sources said. The petitioner’s counsel, Palaniappan, told media that Karthikeyan was not the real accused in the case.