THOOTHUKUDI

Four persons were arrested for allegedly murdering two brothers and burying their bodies in a pit near Thermal Nagar in the city.

Police said passers-by alerted Thermal Nagar Police on Thursday evening to dogs feasting on a hand near the Uppar Odai. When the police visited the spot, they found that the body of a man had been buried there. The body was exhumed on Friday in the presence of Assistant Superintendent of Police Madhan and Thoothukudi Tashildar Muralidharan.

When the exercise was going on, the police found another body buried in the pit. Both the bodies were in a decomposed state. After an on-the-spot post-mortem, the bodies were sent to Government Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital.

During investigation, the police found that a ‘man missing complaint’ had been registered on July 27 in their police station based on a complaint from one Ponraj of Camp I that his sons P. Maripandi, 35, and P. Arulraj, 30, a partially visually challenged youth, had gone missing.

The police found that a relative of Maripandi from Kovilpillai Nagar recently ended his life, and Rithan, 25, one of his brothers, suspected that Maripandi and Arulraj were the reason for his brother’s taking the extreme step.

When Maripandi and Arulraj were standing in front of their house in the early hours of July 27, Rithan and his friends S. Mohammed Meeran, 20, M. Shankar, 20 and S. Sathish, 20, allegedly attacked them with stones and clubs, in which they swooned.

After carrying them to the Uppar Odai, the foursome murdered Maripandi and Arulraj and buried their bodies in the pit. All the four suspects have been arrested.

As the family of the deceased brothers alleged that the police did not inquire into their complaint properly and take immediate steps to search for the two, Thermal Nagar Inspector Gandhimathi has been transferred to Tiruchendur police station.

Further investigations are on.