P Iyappan, the accused-turned-prosecution-witness, submitted that on September 14 that year, he and two others, Murugan and Selvaprakash, hacked neurosurgeon S D Subbiah to death when he was coming out of a hospital and walking up to his car.

He said Murugan first attacked the surgeon on his head and then Selvaprakash in multiple parts of the body, including the neck.

Iyappan, deposing before the Additional Sessions Court I, said he and his associates lay in wait on a motorcycle behind the victim’s car on a motorbike and fled the scene after committing the crime.

On why he chose to confess, Iyappan said he was ‘pricked by his conscience’ that a life-saving doctor was murdered for gain. “I am making this confession voluntarily,” he added.

According to Iyappan, a dispute over a land in Anjugramam village in Tamil Nadu’s Kanniyakumari district between the doctor and Ponnusamy (accused-1) led to the crime. With Iyappan turning approver, the total number of accused in the case has now come down to nine.