Couple accused of mixing poison in well, on the run in Tirupur

TIRUPUR: Residents of Thirumangalam village near Vellakoil in Tirupur alleged that a couple from the locality has mixed poison in the common well of the village.
The couple, identified as Shanmugam, 59, and Padamavathi, 55, living near the common well, are on the run. Police have launched a search to nab the couple and sent water samples from the well for a laboratory test to find if poison was mixed in the water.
“We have registered a case based on the complaint from the villagers. We will be able to tell if poison was poured into the water and what sort of poison only after we get the test result,” a police officer said.
According to police, the entire village uses water from the well for household purposes. Mahendran, one of the villagers incharge of operating the pump set in the well, spotted the couple pouring a liquid into the well on Monday. On suspicion, he rushed to the well,asking the couple to stop pouring the liquid. But the couple threw the bottle inside the well and ran away from the spot.
Mahendran informed the villagers who scooped out the bottle, purportedly thrown by Shanmugam into the well. Suspecting that the bottle contained poison, they approached police with a complaint. But the couple had fled the village before the complaint was filed.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the couple had quarrelled with several families in the village and were not on good terms with them.
They belonged to the most backward community, while most of the villagers were from various other communities. “We are waiting for the lab test to ascertain what was poured into the well. We will get to know the motive only after we arrest the couple,” police said.