RAMANATHAPURAM: A 26-year-old private finance company collection agent, who went missing on October 5, was allegedly murdered by a borrower over derogatory remarks about his family and buried in a palmyra grove near Uchipuli.
The body of the deceased identified as Premkumar of Valantharavai was exhumed on Friday, following which his relatives staged a road blockade on the Madurai-Dhanushkodi National Highway, demanding action against all those involved.
Police sources said Premkumar’s father, Murugan, lodged a missing-person complaint on October 5.
During the investigation, police found his two-wheeler abandoned near Valantharavai Vilakku Road and traced his last phone conversation to the suspect identified as Kalidas (38) of Thuthivalasai, who had borrowed Rs 2 lakh from a private finance company.
Upon questioning on Tuesday, Kalidas allegedly claimed that Premkumar had collected the loan repayment and left.
However, CCTV footage showed the two meeting before Premkumar went missing. On Thursday, Kalidas allegedly confessed to the murder and led the police to the burial site at Thoppuvalasai.
Premkumar visited the grove around 2 pm on October 5 to collect the repayment after Kalidas asked him to come there. Kalidas allegedly attacked him with a concealed machete, killed him, and buried the body. He abandoned the victim’s two-wheeler and discarded his mobile phones in a water-filled pit near road-widening works.
Police said Kalidas told investigators that he was angered by remarks allegedly made by Premkumar about him and his daughter.
He also allegedly took the victim’s three-sovereign gold chain and pledged it at a pawn shop.
Based on his statement, the body was exhumed around 7 am on Friday in the presence of revenue officials, police and forensic experts.
It was subsequently sent to Ramanathapuram Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem. Further probe is underway.