CHENNAI: A day after the body of a 65-year-old DMK functionary was found in a gunny bag at a house in Royapuram, the police are still searching for the head and a hand of the victim in the Adyar river. The arrested accused claimed to have dumped them there few hours before the police arrived at the murder scene.
The victim was identified as S Chakrapani, a moneylender and a DMK functionary. Royapuram police arrested M Waseem (35), his sister Thameem Banu (40), and her lover Dilli Babu (29) in connection with the murder.
Police said they have managed to recover 70% of the body parts and only the head, a hand, and visceral parts are missing. “They mutilated the body to an extent that the remains did not look like that of a human. There is CCTV footage of the accused approaching the Adyar river in Dilli Babu’s autorickshaw. But, we are not sure if the head would be in a shape to be identified,” said the police.
After preliminary investigations, police said it was a pre-meditated murder for gain and the accused were prepared with machetes to butcher Chakrapani. “They murdered him for his jewellery and we suspect Chakrapani also had some cash with him,” said the police.
Chakrapani allegedly had a relationship with Thameem Banu when she stayed in Manali. He had also lent money to her. Chakrapani continued the relationship even after Thameem Banu shifted to Royapuram, and visited her on May 6 and May 10 (the day he was killed).
“Thameem Banu’s husband Aslam Hussaini, who sells clothes on the pavement, used to rarely visit home. The woman allegedly entered flesh trade with the help of her brother Waseem and lover Dilli Babu. Dilli Babu had allegedly married Thameem Banu a few months ago,” said the police. Police suspect Dilli Babu was the mastermind behind the murder and came up with the plan to dispose of the body parts in different places to avoid getting caught.
While Chakrapani was murdered on May 10, they kept the body for a day before chopping it on May 12. The accused started disposing the body on Friday, but could not complete the task due to police movement in the locality.
When the police first visited Thameem Banu’s house, it was filled with incense smoke and police mistook it for a ritual, but it was a ploy to mask the foul smell. Thameem and Waseem had planned to eliminate a few others after robbing them, said the police.