THENI: Rajathani police on Monday arrested five people, including four juvenile boys, in connection with the murder of an auto driver, who had been sexually assaulting them for the last few months, at Theppapatti on Saturday. The suspects have been identified as Ajithkumar(27) and four juveniles from Theppampatti.
According to police the naked body of auto driver Ponnukutti alias Thangamalai (43) was recovered from the government school campus on Saturday morning. Rajathani Police formed a special team and checked CCTV footage and the phone signals of Thangamalai, whose family had lodged a man missing complaint.
They spotted a gang getting out of the school and zeroed in on the suspects after investigation. On Sunday, police detained all the five suspects for interrogation.
Police sources said Thangamalai had allegedly been sexually assaulting the four juveniles for the past two months. On Friday night, he again sexually assaulted one of them. Seeing this, Ajithkumar and other three juveniles jointly beat him to death with cricket bats and sticks.
On Monday, all five were arrested and produced before the district court. While Ajithkunar has been sent to judicial custody, the juveniles were given counselling and taken to a government home in Madurai.