CHENNAI: A government employee who works in a food testing laboratory, who is supposed to test and ensure the food public eat is safe, allegedly served prasadam mixed with sulphuric acid to a couple from whom he had swindled lakhs of rupees. While the man died, his wife has been hospitalised.
Luck had not been favouring 34-year-old Karthik and his wife Saranya (30) for quite sometime. After losing his job as professor in a private city college as part of layoffs in July 2018, Karthik, a postgraduate in mechanical engineering, used his savings to lease a “Xerox” shop. The couple were managing the shop located in Royapuram, while Karthik continued to look for better opportunities.
“Karthik appeared for a few government exams, but could not clear them,” said an investigating officer. “About eight months ago, he met Velayudham through a common friend. Velayudham was working as an Office Assistant with the food testing laboratory at The Kings Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research in Guindy.”
“Velayudham, a resident of MKB Nagar, claimed he had influence in the right places and could help Karthik secure a job at the institute. Believing him, Karthik handed over Rs 4 lakh in cash to get the job. This was eight months ago. Later, when he neither got the job nor his money back, he started putting pressure on Velayudham,” the officer said.
Finally, on Monday Velayudham asked Karthik to visit him at his home to discuss about the job. When Karthik went with Saranya, the couple was told that everything had been put in place and that Karthik would get the job in a few months. Velayudham then offered the couple prasadam that he claimed was from Shirdi Sai Baba temple.
“Karthik immediately ate the prasadam. As he felt nauseated, he stopped his wife from eating it,” said assistant commissioner Azhagesan quoting Velayudham, who has confessed to the crime. However, Saranya also seems to have eaten the offering. By the time the couple reached Mullai Nagar bus depot on their bike, a few metres away from Velayudham’s house, the poison started to take effect.
“From my apartment, I saw a man fainted on the ground and his wife vomiting,” said an MKB Nagar resident who witnessed the incident. “Soon, my wife called an ambulance and reported the matter to police.” The police filed a case of suspicious death on Monday.
“Only after the postmortem did we realise the food they had was mixed with sulphuric acid. We knew Velayudham had access to the substance as he worked in a laboratory,” the police said. Velayudham went absconding soon after the incident, but was arrested from a hideout in Tambaram on Tuesday. Both Karthik and Velayudham have two children.