MADURAI: In a cruel twist of fate, a retired employee of the Civil Supplies Department in Madurai lost his life for a sum of money as low as Rs 50 when he resisted a few robbers who had waylaid him on Tuesday night.
What is perhaps more shocking is that the alleged culprits, who were arrested by the police later on, reportedly confessed that they robbed him of the money to buy liquor.
A Chandrasekar (60), the victim, was found dead in Vaigai Colony in Anna Nagar in the wee hours of Wednesday, the police said.
Anna Nagar police inspector Rajapandian registered a case of murder since stab wounds were noticed on the body of the deceased.
Investigations revealed that Chandrasekar was working at a flour mill after his retirement from the Civil Supplies Department, where he worked at the Public Distribution System (PDS) section.
Police said that there was no ground for anybody to have personal enmity with him.
Hence, they turned their focus on the possible involvement of local goons and anti-social elements.
After a thorough investigation, they zeroed in on Anandan (20), who lived near the scene of crime and had many murder cases pending against him.
The police was even more suspicious of Anandan’s involvement in the murder after he went missing from house since the day of Chandrasekar’s murder.
After a search, the accused Anandan was detained by the Madurai police on Friday.
On interrogation, he reportedly confessed about his involvement in the crime along with his accomplices K Pandi (24) and Balamurugan (24), both residing at Theerthakadu in Vandiyur.
The prime accused in the murder reportedly told the police that they had intercepted Chandrasekar for robbing him of money to buy liquor.
Since Chandrasekar resisted, the trio allegedly stabbed him and decamped with that Rs 50 that they could find in his shirt pocket.
The police said the trio tried in vain to pull out the ring from Chandrasekar’s finger and fled with the money.
The ring and his wrist watch were later handed over to the family of the deceased, the police added. The police have arrested Anandan and Pandi and were on the look out for Balamurugan. The weapons used in the murder were also recovered.