VILLUPURAM: Villupuram police have arrested nine persons in connection with the murder of a man whose decomposed body was recently found in a private casuarina grove at Pillrampattu Mathura Vedalam village under Arakandanallur police station limits in Villupuram district. According to police, the body of an unidentified man, aged about 45, was found in a decomposed state on March 7.
“A special team examined CCTV footage from the crime scene and surrounding areas, which helped identify the victim,” a police official said. During investigation, police identified the deceased as M Jayakumar (48), a native of Tirunelveli, who had been residing in Chennai for the past 15 years and was involved in filmmaking.
Police said he was murdered by his girlfriend B Pooja (21) of Mogappair in Chennai, along with her former boyfriend K Deva (24) of Tambaram and others.
The accused, including Deva and his friend M Ayyappan (24) of Jayankondam and associate A Durga (19) of Tirumullaivoyal, allegedly took Jayakumar to the casuarina grove at Pillrampattu Mathura Vedalam village where Ayyappan’s relative G Sadaiyandi (64) was employed and murdered him on March 3.
“They decided to kill him in a rural area and leave the body in a grove where there is little movement so that no one would know about it and they could escape. After the murder, they damaged his face to prevent identification,” police added.