TIRUNELVELI: Tirunelveli police have recovered the bodies of three people, including two transwomen, from two wells near Palayamkottai on Friday.
The deceased have been identified as Murugan (30), Bavani (28) and Anushka. All three lived together in Narasinganallur near Suthamalli, a locality in which at least 30 other transpersons reside. Police said that the trans community noticed that Bavani and Murugan had been missing.
On Friday morning, the community, after having made its own enquiries, secured one Rishikesh and two other men and handed them over to Suthamalli police, who questioned the men.
According to the police, Rishikesh, who hails from Salem, lived with a transwoman named Renukha, in Tirunelveli. They moved to Narasinganallur after which Rishikesh became friendly with Anushka. Police said that Rishikesh murdered Anushka as she was frequently asking him for money. "With the help of his friends, Rishikesh dumped her body in a well near Palayamkottai," police sources said.
After Murugan spoke ill of Rishikesh's friend Snowin, another transwoman, he allegedly murdered Bavani and Murugan. "He put their bodies in sacks and dumped them in a nearby well. The murders occurred a few weeks ago," police said.
Based on their statement, police and fire and rescue personnel from Palayamkottai went to the wells and recovered a sack from one well and two sacks from another well nearby. Police sent the bodies to Tirunelveli Medical College hospital for postmortem examination on Friday. Further investigation is on.