A murder case that remained unsolved for more than five years in Thanjavur district was detected by a special police team formed recently.
According to police, a special team was formed recently to detect the murder of a 35-year-old unknown male at Nariyakudi hamlet on the Thiruchitrambalam-Peravurani Road reported on July 13, 2019.
Upon receiving the information about the existence of a charred body of an unidentified person at Nariyakudi, the Thiruchitrambalam police registered a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and commenced the interrogation.
During the interrogation, the Thiruchitrambalam police received information that about 100 goats reared by Mathiazhagan of Madathikadu hamlet, located at a distance of 5 km from Nariyakudi where the charred body was found, were stolen on July 8, 2019.
However, the stolen goats were recovered by Mathiazhagan from Raja of Punalvasal located near Madathikadu within a few days. While handing over the goats to Mathiazhagan, Raja claimed that an unknown person who was goading the animals took to his heals on seeing Raja on July 8, 2019.
As the information gathered during the preliminary investigation did not yield concrete evidence, the case was kept pending by the Thiruchitrambalam police.
Recently, in July 2024, a special team was formed to detect the case and the team commenced its interrogation from Raja since the team suspected the veracity of his statements relating to the murder of the unknown person.
As anticipated by the special team, Raja confessed that the deceased person was Arumugam of Pattukottai. Raja and Arumugam chalked out a plan to steal the goats reared by Mathiazhagan and implemented it. However, Mathiazhagan traced the stolen goats and regained them from Raja later. Two days after Raja handed over the possession of the goats to Mathiazhagan, Arumugam called on Raja.
Suspecting that Arumugam would expose the truth, Raja murdered him and burnt the body using petrol. Raja was arrested on August 10 and remanded in judicial custody, police said.
Published - August 11, 2024 06:05 pm IST
