Tamil Nadu: ‘Covid drug deaths’ turn out to be murder, 3 die of poisoning in Erode

ERODE: What was initially thought to be a case of people paying with their lives for turning to a quack for a Covid remedy has turned out to be murder most foul in Erode. On Saturday, four of a family took ill after taking ‘naattu marundhu’ (native medicine) and one of the women died. Two more women died on Sunday, but by then the police suspected murder. Late on Sunday they arrested two men for poisoning the family from whom one of them had borrowed ₹15 lakh. Police said R Kalyanasundaram, 43, of Keezhvani village near Gobichettipalayam, had borrowed ₹ 15 lakh from Karuppana Gounder of Karungoundanvalasu village near Chennimalai a few months ago. He hadn’t been paying the interest for the last three months, so Gounder and his daughter Deepa, 30, asked Kalyanasundaram to return the money with interest. Irked by this, Kalyanasundaram decided to do away with Gounder and his family, police said. Kalyanasundaram roped in Pothis Kumar alias Sabari, 19, and got him to go to Gounder’s house on Saturday pretending to be a health department volunteer.
‘Accused made use of pandemic situation to plan the murders’
Sabari told them he wanted to screen them for Covid and used a temperature gun and a pulse oxymeter to check the temperature and oxygen saturation of Gounder, his wife Mallika, 55, Deepa and their house help Kuppammal, 65. Sabari then gave each of them a tablet, saying it was a preventive against the virus and insisted they eat it in his presence.
Erode district superintendent of police V Sasimohan said the tablets were a powerful insecticide, used in coconut plantations, coated in coffee powder and the four swooned within minutes. It was Kalyanasundaram himself, who was waiting near the house, who alerted police and helped neighbours take the four to hospital.
Mallika died on way to the hospital. Kuppammal was referred to the Salem government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital while Karuppanna Gounder and his daughter Deepa were taken to a private hospital in Coimbatore for further treatment.
“Kuppammal died early on Sunday and Deepa died a few hours later,” the SP said, adding that Karuppanna Gounder is in a critical condition.
The SP formed four special investigation teams. The discrepancies in Kalyanasundaram’s statements led the police to focus on him, investigators said.
The Chennimalai police arrested the duo on Sunday night. The Erode SP said, “The accused planned very cunningly to murder the victims utilising the Covid-19 pandemic situation.”
The Chennimalai police produced the duo before the judicial magistrate of Perundurai sub-court on Sunday night and lodged them at the Gobichettipalayam sub-jail.