CHENNAI: In less than 24 hours, another body of a woman with her hands and legs tied was found in the Thousand lights area on Thursday morning.
The deceased was identified as P Dhanalakshmi (48), a resident of Mackey’s Garden. Police said that around 7 am on Thursday, a neighbour noted a foul smell from the hut opposite his house. “When he opened the door, he found Dhanalakshmi’s decomposed body with the hands and legs tied and chilly powder sprinkled all over the body,” said a police source.
“I had seen her last on Tuesday when I returned from night duty at around 10 am. About half an hour later, her husband Palani (58) came looking for her. Today, as we were standing near their house, the neighbour who discovered the body alerted us,” said Lakshmanan, a neighbour.
The couple lived on the first floor of a two-storey building, while the body was found in a hut in the compound that shares the same wall. Though the area is equipped with CCTV cameras, residents claim none is in working condition.
Palani, who worked in a nearby printing press, approached the police on Wednesday with a person missing complaint. The Thousand Lights police are conducting inquires.
The police have nabbed a middle-aged woman from the same building and two of her accomplices, suspecting their involvement in the murder.
Investigations revealed that the suspects had sprinkled chilly powder and a perfume on the Dhanalakshmi’s body before dumping it in the hut. During inquiries, the police smelt the same perfume from a house in the building. Further probe led the police into the house where they found blood stains on the woman’s sari in her house.
It may be noted that on Wednesday, a woman advocate was found murdered in her house in West Mambalam. Before that, a senior citizen was found gagged and murdered in her house in T Nagar on Monday.