CHENNAI: CBI has started investigations into the 2008 triple murder of former chairman of Tamil Nadu Minerals Ltd, his wife, and house-help after registering a fresh case on January 2 based on Supreme Court direction. The CBI’s FIR does not name anyone as an accused.
The murder case has had multiple twists and turns — on November 20, 2008, Dr Saravanan (74), his wife Kasthuri (73), and house-help Anbarasi (17) were found dead in a pool of blood at their house in Ashok Nagar by Saravanan’s subordinate. The couple was childless.
Investigation was progressing at a snail’s pace until a PIL was filed in the Madras High Court two years later. In October 2010, a trial court convicted four persons for murder and conspiracy, but three years later, the Madras High Court set aside the conviction and raised serious questions about the investigation and certain other facts.
For instance, the high court observed that the cop investigating the murder had opened the bank lockers of Saravanan and Kasthuri without following due procedure, and raised questions against him and the bank manager who allowed this.
The court raised questions on how the cop had obtained the keys to the locker as it had not been shown in the mahazar. Consequently, the role of the bank manager in allowing the investigating officer to open the locker in the absence of the account owners (the deceased couple) was also questionable.
Regarding the murder, the high court pointed out the prosecution’s case that the accused had entered the house to loot the wealth of the couple, but there was no specific evidence as to how they had entered the house, as it was locked from the inside.
Based on this, the high court ordered the CBI to split the case into two and investigate the murder and the involvement of investigating officers in opening the lockers of the deceased. The order was upheld by the Supreme Court on February 29, 2024.
Though the state government said due process was followed in opening the locker, the apex court questioned the rationale behind opening the lockers. Moreover, no entry was made in the case diary by the investigating officer about this.
Conviction binned in 2010
In October 2010, in connection with the case, a trial court convicted four persons for murder and conspiracy, but three years later, the Madras High Court set aside the conviction and raised serious questions about the investigation and certain other facts