Chennai: Creditors drove techie to death; owed them Rs 80 lakh

CHENNAI: The deceased software engineer L Prakash, 41, had taken more than 80 lakh in loans from several people, and had been paying weekly interest to at least nine money lenders, police said.
Police suspect pressure to repay made the techie kill his wife P Gayathri, 39, daughter P Nithya Shree, 13, son P Harikrishnan, 8, and then use the same electric saw to kill himself on Thursday night.
Prakash had borrowed money to build his house, and later took loans to buy a car and expand his wife Gayathri's business. Gayathri, a member of the BJP, ran a country drug shop at Pozhichalur near Pallavaram.
Prakash had leased out his newly built house in the same neighbourhood at Venkateshwara Nagar in Pozhichalur near Pallavaram, and stayed in a rented house at Vinayagar Koil Street.
The house, where four people died, was locked and sealed by the cops, before informing the house owner. Sankar Nagar inspector of police Albin Raj said, "The cake and food seized from Prakash's house were sent to the forensic laboratory. We are expecting the analysis report soon."
The bodies were handed over to the families of Prakash and Gayathri after performing an autopsy at the Government Hospital at the Chromepet. The bodies were cremated at a crematorium in Chromepet on Friday.
The techie, Prakash, 41, had also left a suicide note on a wall, stating that no one was responsible for the family's death. His father-in-law Ramanan was the first to visit the crime scene when he entered the home on Saturday morning to hand over temple prasadam to his daughter Gayathri.
Police said high debts most likely forced the techie to take the extreme decision.