CHENNAI: Two days after a 32-year-old disabled man died under mysterious circumstances in a rented apartment in Guindy, the police have arrested his caretaker, Arumugam, for allegedly smothering the victim to death. The accused’s friend has also been secured for writing an anonymous letter to the victim a few days ago, threatening to murder him if he did not part with Rs 30 lakh.
According to the police, the deceased, identified as S Vignesh of Thulukkapatti in Virudhunagar, was reportedly born with a walking disability. A triple degree holder, he had been employed in an international banking group, at Ekkaduthangal for the last five years. Vignesh’s elder brother, Veeraraj, was also born with a walking disability, and also has a caretaker, identified as Narayanan from Virudhunagar. Arumugam and Narayanan were friends for a long time.
“Since Vignesh cannot move without others’ help, his family always had a caretaker for him. Arumugam joined as his caretaker in 2019 and stayed with him in a mansion in Ekkaduthangal before they moved into a new rented premises in Achuthan Nagar,” said police. Since Vignesh’s workplace had closed due to the lockdown, Arumugam’s primary job was to buy food for the both of them and help Vignesh work from home. Arumugam, who was in need of Rs 70,000 for his sister’s marriage, had requested Vignesh for the money, but the latter is said to have not responded properly.
Dejected at it, Arumugam asked his friend, Narayanan, to write an anonymous letter to Vignesh demanding `30 lakh. The letter reached Vignesh a few days ago, which read that if he did not part with the money he might be killed. However, Vignesh ignored it after sending a copy of the letter to his family on WhatsApp, the police said. Arumugam, who grew troubled, smothered Vignesh with a pillow and murdered him on Monday night.
He then, informed the police that Vignesh had developed chest pain and died. However, the police, suspicious of Vignesh’s death, sent his body for post-mortem, keeping Arumugam under their watch. The autopsy revealed that he was suffocated to death. Arumugam is said to have confessed to his crimes. “His idea was that the police would close the case as a natural death and that he would withdraw cash using Vignesh’s debit and credit cards. He had informed Narayanan that he murdered Vignesh and that he would share Rs 30,000 with him for not revealing the truth,” said police. Narayanan was brought to the city and both of them were remanded to judicial custody.