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NT Bureau
Chennai, Mar 9:

        A contract employee working in Singapore was suspected to have been murdered for gain while travelling in a call taxi to reach his home town at Tirunelveli after reaching Chennai by flight.

        He was believed to have carried Rs 30-lakh worth valuables on his way back home. Police are also interrogating the victim's friend who was reportedly travelling with him in the flight from Singapore to Chennai, and then shared the taxi ride with him to their native places.

        According to Police, Arul Roberts, 23, a native of Tirunelveli, was a construction worker hired on a contract basis in Singapore for more than three years. Following the expiry of his work permit, he had decided to return to his native town. On 17 February, he rang up his family to inform on his impending arrival and also the valuables that he would be bringing with him.

        However, much to the disappointment of the family, Roberts did not turn up at all. Enquiries with the family members revealed that Roberts had taken the Air Lanka flight along with his roommate Senthil to Chennai. After arriving in the city, the duo hired a call taxi to reach their destinations at Tirunelveli and Ramanathapuram.

        Roberts had also called his father from the mobile phone of the cab driver to inform the family that he was on the way home and would reach there soon, after dropping his roommate in Ramanathapuram. But neither did he return home nor did he call up his family till now for the inordinate delay.

        Worried over his son's non-arrival on time, Robert's father went to Sikkal, the native place of Senthil to enquire about his son. But acting in a strange manner, Senthil retorted that he never knew who Roberts was. Then Robert's father lodged a complaint at Sikkal Police station which also turned a deaf ear to him as Senthil and his family were influential people.

        The victim's father with no options left approached the State Home Secretary, after which a police enquiry was conducted to trace the whereabouts of Roberts. Enquiries with the call taxi driver, however, revealed that he dropped both of them in Ramanathapuram.

        Police suspect Roberts might have been murdered for gain as he carried goods worth Rs 30 lakh. Further investigation is to trace the missing chain of events related to Robert's disappearance and to nab the culprit.