Why CB-CID took over Tirunelveli triple murder

The sensational triple murder case in Tirunelveli was today handed over to the CB-CID following an order by Tamilnadu Director General of Police (DGP) J K Tripathy.

The investigation into gruesome murders of Uma Maheshwari (65) who was Tirunelveli’s first Mayor, her husband Murugasankar (72) and domestic help Mari (50) at Reddiarpatti-Melapalayam Road on 23 July took a new turn with the police finding a ‘political’ angle to the incident.

On Monday evening, Tripathy ordered the transfer of the case from the local police to the CB-CID citing its sensitivity as there was allegedly a political angle to it.

Today, a six member CB-CID team, led by officer Vijayakumar, inspected the house of Uma, which happens to be the murder site, and started the probe.

It may be noted that under the investigation of three special police teams led by Inspector Periyasamy, police arrested Karthik alias Karthikeyan (39) son of DMK Adi Dravida wing deputy secretary Seeniammal.

Initially, investigators believed it was a murder for gain as the gold jewellery and valuables from the house were missing. Later, the post mortem report revealed the trio were tortured for sometime before being killed. This turned into a major clue, as robbers do not stay at a crime scene for long. All three deceased were found with stab wounds and lying in a pool of blood.

Following Karthik’s arrest, Tirunelveli Commissioner of Police, N Bhaskaran and Inspector Periyasamy grilled him.
Karthik was arrested from Madurai after police found his Scorpio vehicle in the vicinity of Uma’s house during the time of the murder and based on his call records.

On noticing an injury on his hand, Bhaskaran questioned him about it. “The wound turned out to be a knife injury. This gave him away and he confessed to the murder,” sources said.

Police also found his blood stains and finger prints on the walls of the house, it is said.

Karthik told police that the murder weapon was dumped at a waterbody in Palayamkottai. He also revealed the spot where he hid the stolen jewellery.

However, many questions remain to be answered in the case and CB-CID inquiry is expected to find them out. Karthik claimed he was the only person involved in the killings while police believe he used mercenaries. Despite the arrest the real motive behind the murder is not established. The trigger could be Uma’s rise in the DMK stronghold, the fortunes she made through her career or her political enmity with Seeniammal.