Tamil Nadu: Man murders dad, attempts to pass it off as an accident

CHENNAI: Police on Sunday arrested a man who allegedly strangled his 58-year-old father over a property dispute at Sunguvarchathram in Kancheepuram district, around 50km from Chennai, and tried to show the older man had fallen on the road and died. Police identified the deceased as M Jayaraman. A court sent the suspect Vignesh to jail.
Jayaraman, who had rented out a part of his land for a container truck parking lot, lived with his second wife Padma and her son Vimal Raj, while his first wife Govindhammal and sons Vivek and Vignesh stayed separately, an officer said.
Vignesh often quarrelled with Jayaraman, demanding a proper settlement of the family property and a share of the ?1.50 lakh he got as rent each month from the parking lot, he added.
On Friday evening, inquiries found, Vignesh took Jayaraman to the parking lot, apparently to perform a puja. Around 9pm, he informed Vimal Raj that their father had died of injuries suffered after falling on the road.
While Vignesh brought Jayaraman’s body to Padma’s residence, Vimal Raj found strangulation marks on the neck. He picked up a fight with Vignesh and informed police. In a subsequent quarrel at the funeral, Vimal told the crowd gathered there that Vignesh had killed their father as he did not give him a lion’s share of the property.
The Sunguvarchathram police, which registered a case and arrested Vignesh, are questioning to know whether Vignesh’s elder brother Vivek was also involved in the murder. Police suspect that the accused used a rope to strangle Jayaraman. “He had warned earlier that he would kill his father, but the family did not believe that he could do it,” said an investigating officer.