Almost two months after being released from Vellore Central Prison for Men after serving six-and-a-half years imprisonment in a murder case, a 47-year-old man was hacked to death.
Police exhumed the body of C Kandiban, a resident of Nadupalleri village in Walajapet, who went missing on November 3, found buried in an eucalyptus plantation in Nadupalleri village, on Wednesday.
Kandiban was released on October 19 this year after serving imprisonment for murdering Chinnakannu of the same village in 2006, following a fight over fixing their respective party flags in the village.
Police said they received an anonymous phone call on Tuesday providing information about foul smell emanating from the plantation site that belonged to Lakshmiammal of the same village.
After the Village Administrative Officer Subramani confirmed the information provided by the anonymous caller, police went to the spot and exhumed the highly decomposed body in presence of a team of revenue officials on Wednesday. Kandiban’s identity was confirmed by his family members, investigation officer (IO) and inspector of Ponnai station K Kandiban said.
A team of doctors from the Government Hospital, Walajapet conducted an autopsy on the spot. “Three deep cut injuries were found on the deceased’s head and the left thigh. He had been hacked to death,” the police officer said and added that they had altered the man missing case into a murder case.
The police officials suspect the involvement of Chinnakannu’s family members, who were at large. “Eight of the family members of Chinnakannu including his three sons and two sons-in-law are absconding. We have launched a search to nab them,” the police official said.