R Venkataraman, who was absconding in a murder case for six months, surrendered before the Fifth Judicial Magistrate Court here on Tuesday.
Venkataraman, a leading sago merchant, was the district president of a political outfit run by P Chidambaram for a brief period, when he was out of Congress.
Even after P Chidambaram wound up his outfit after he became the Finance Minister in the UPA-I government, Venkataraman used to host P Chidambaram during his visit to the region and also celebrate his birthdays and that of his son Karthi Chidambaram. Venkataraman is with the Congress party now.
On December 11, last year, one of Venkataraman’s follower Karthick (35), a resident of Nethimedu, was found murdered under mysterious circumstances in Athimanickampatti.
The Kondalampatti police booked a case and conducted an investigation into the incident. A few days later, police arrested two persons in connection with the murder. One of them, Kumar (30), son of Annamalai, told the police that he and his co-accused kidnapped Karthick and stabbed him with knives at Athimanickampatti.Kumar also told the police that Venkataraman engaged them to murder Karthick.