Entry proof sought to send don Sridhar’s body home

CHENNAI: Two days after the alleged suicide of Tamil Nadu’s most wanted ‘Don’ Sridhar Dhanapalan in Cambodia, people close to him claim difficulties in bringing the body to India. An advocate who accompanied Sridhar’s family to Cambodia said the Indian Embassy officials were demanding proof of Sridhar’s arrival into Cambodia to help them take the body back to India. “But Sridhar had used a fake Sri Lankan passport to travel,” advocate V Purushothaman told Express over phone from Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital.

Sridhar Dhanapalan was facing at least 43 criminal cases, including seven murder cases, in his hometown Kancheepuram. Family members claim he consumed cyanide on Wednesday. Beyond their claims, there has been no independent verification about Sridhar’s death.

On Thursday, Sridhar’s daughter Dhanalakshmi left for Phnom Penh and on Friday is said to have approached the Indian Embassy for help. Sridhar’s son Santhosh on Thursday flew in from London, where he is living, to Phnom Penh. The family members are claiming that Sridhar’s fake identity in the foreign country has come as a stumbling block in bringing the body back to India. “Both of them (Dhanalakshmi and Santhosh) saw the body on Thursday night at the mortuary. Since the next two days are weekends, they (Indian Embassy officials) asked us to come again on Monday,” Purushothaman said.

Sridhar is believed to have escaped from India to Dubai in 2013 using a fake Sri Lankan passport. It’s not clear when and how he moved to Cambodia. Purushothaman also claimed that a few minutes before his alleged suicide, Sridhar called him up and sought to know the procedures that would be followed if he killed himself in Cambodia. “He also hinted that he was going to commit suicide. A few minutes later, his cook called and informed me that he had committed suicide and was being taken to Khema International Polyclinic in Phnom Penh. That was when we rushed to Cambodia,” Purushothaman said. A senior police officer here said they were in touch with the family members.