Advocate, father, brother, two others held for murder of Siddha doctor

Advocate, father, brother, two others held for murder of Siddha doctor

They allegedly hacked him over using a pathway

12/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUNELVELI

Thisaiyanvilai police have arrested five persons, including an advocate, his father and younger brother, in connection with the murder of Siddha medical practitioner S. Thirupathi, 34, of Mela Pandarapuram on Saturday night.

The arrested are advocate G. Muthukrishnan, 30, of Mela Pandarapuram, his father Ganesan, 57, his brother Kavin Rajkumar, 25, L. Sivanantham, 28 of Muthammalpuram and Vimal alias Vimalanathan, 33, of Sri Lankan Refugees’ Colony at Samoogarengapuram near Valliyoor. Investigators believe that Muthukrishnan hired Vimalanathan to orchestrate the crime.

The police said an armed gang waylaid Thirupathi at Vijaya Achampadu near Ithamozhi when he was returning home from his clinic and hacked him to death. The assailants dumped the body in a nearby well and also pushed the Siddha doctor’s two-wheeler into the well.

As Thirupathi did not return home even after 10 p.m., his family members started searching for him and found the body floating in the well after midnight. On getting information, Thisaiyanvilai police rushed to the spot and retrieved the body and the two-wheeler from the well.

Previous enmity

During investigation, the police found that Thirupathi had enmity with Muthukrishnan, his neighbour, over using the pathway near their houses. When Muthukrishnan and his family allegedly threatened him to resolve the issue through negotiations, Thirupathi did not budge.

Agitated over it, Muthukrishnan, his father and brother, along with Sivanantham and Vimalanathan, murdered Thirupathi, the police said.

The police also said Vimalanathan, who had engaged Muthukrishnan to argue his cases in the past, became close to him and Sivananatham was a friend of the prime accused.

“We suspect that Vimalanathan, an accused in a case registered under the POCSO Act, and Sivanantham might have been hired by Muthukrishnan for murdering Thirupathi as the duo were in no way connected to the deceased,” a police officer said.

Vimalanathan, along with one of his close relatives, figured in the murder case of a cab driver from Ambasamudram a few years ago though he did not have any personal motive to commit the crime. After figuring in a few more cases, including robbery, he was arrested eight months ago for sexually harassing a 12-year-old girl.

“In all these cases, Muthukrishnan was appearing for Vimalanathan and hence the advocate could have hired him,” the police officer said.