Hunt still on for missing body parts of Sandhya

CHENNAI: A day after police arrested small-time filmmaker Balakrishnan for murdering his wife Sandhya, they were still searching for her missing body parts on Thursday. Balakrishnan allegedly chopped up Sandhya’s body into several pieces and disposed them off at different places.On Thursday, the cops hired around 20 sanitary workers to search the Pallikaranai dumpyard, spread across 75 hectares, for any missing parts. “Sandhya was murdered using a hammer,” said a police official quoting Balakrishnan.
“Later, the accused used a machete to chop her body up into five pieces, packed them into three plastic bags and disposed the bags in garbage bins in and around Jafferkhanpet.

I am innocent: accused

Balakrishnan was produced in court on Thursday where he claimed he was innocent. He has been remanded to judicial custody till February 19.Police say Sandhya had tried to kill herself a few months ago following a fight with the accused. Balakrishnan rushed her to a hospital and she was saved. Later, Sandhya moved to a working women’s hostel in Saidapet and from there to her parents’ home in December.“She seems to have patched up with her husband later. After Christmas, she told her parents that she was returning to Balakrishnan as he had promised to help her find chances to act in movies,” say cops. “She took Rs 75,000 from her home for these expenses and left.”

How Sandhya died

The couple had a fight on January 19 and in a fit of rage, Balakrishnan allegedly hit Sandhya in the head with a hammer. He then disposed her body in several places.The incident came to light on January 21 when a sanitary worker spotted a severed limb in the Perungudi dumpyard, from where cops tracked down the case and the culprit.

No food: Tasmac cook murdered

Chennai: A cook in a Tasmac outlet was found dead on Thursday and the police suspect he was murdered by a co-worker. A Valliappan (40)was working as a cook in the Tasmac on Greams Road. “All workers used to stay on the first floor of the building. A 17-year-old boy, a migrant worker from Andhra Pradesh, had asked for food, but Valliappan allegedly refused to oblige. Around 2 am on Thursday, the boy strangled the man and fled the spot,” said an officer.

Gold, cash stolen from house

Chennai: Nearly 28 sovereigns of gold jewellery and Rs 3,000 were stolen from a house at Triplicane on Wednesday.  The theft came to light when the house owner Thiruvengadam, working in an IT company, returned from his relative’s house on Thursday.