A city lawyer murdered his client and performed last rites claiming that the dead was his wife, a top police official said today.
E T Rajavel, the lawyer and resident Kurichi, has registered the death of his wife, Manoharan Mohana and obtained death certificate and burnt the body in the electric crematorium in Attupalam in the city on November 11, 2011, city police commissioner, A K Vishwanathan told reproters here.
However, it came to the notice of the police that the lawyer's wife had filed a petition after two months in a city court in April last, that she was alive and requested to cancel the death certificate, which was removed from the registry, he said.
Meanwhile, a person lodged a complaint that his wife, Ammase was missing from the house, after she had gone to meet Rajavel in connection with the case and Police started investigating the case detailly.
Detailed investigation revealed that Ammase, who visited the lawyers office was strangulated to death in the office and brought to the house of the lawyer, with the help of driver, Palanisamy, who was arrested yesterday, Vishwanathan said.
Inquiry with Palanisamy revealed that Rajavel after preparing fake documents, burnt Ammase, claiming to be his wife Mohana, who was sent out of Coimbatore, in order to save her from a case involving a multilevel marketing firm, he said.
Based on information, police arrested one Ponnarasu and Palanisamy and the hunt was on to nab Rajavel and his wife, Mohana, Vishwanathan said.
The official also said that the lawyers was involved in the murder of a HIV-infected man some time ago and taken possession of 26 cents of land in his wife's name and sold it to some other persons.