TIRUPPUR: Having made no breakthrough so far, the district police have increased the number of special teams from 10 to 14 to probe the murder of an elderly couple and their son in Avinashipalayam on November 29. Sources said the teams are poring over similar cases since 2011.
The couple and their son were beaten to death in the wee hours at their house in a 4.5-acre coconut grove. The police estimated only eight sovereigns of gold jewellery were stolen.
With farmers calling for a protest in Avinashipalayam on Tuesday to condemn the murder and Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protection Association urging the state to issue firearm licences to farmers living in farmhouses, the police are under pressure to solve the case at the earliest.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and BJP state president K Annamalai have condemned the incident. On Sunday evening, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi general secretary E R Eswaran met the affected family. On Sunday night, Minister M P Saminathan visited the family, and assured police action.
Police suspect that a gang which murdered Chennimalai in Erode on September 9, 2023, could be involved in this case too. In the Erode case, an elderly couple in a farmhouse was beaten to death and 15 sovereigns of jewellery and cash were stolen. SP Abishek Gupta said, “We suspect the involvement of a gang associated with the eight arrested in the Erode case. The teams are analysing CCTV footage and investigating whether they came through water canals.”