A woman, aged about 40, was found dead in a pool of blood in a lodge opposite to the Vellore North Police Station on Tuesday morning. The police registered a case and launched a manhunt to nab the perpetrator, who had accompanied the woman to the lodge during the early hours of Tuesday. After investigations, the police found out that the woman’s husband had murdered her suspecting her fidelity.
Following a preliminary inquiry into the murder, the police established the identity of the deceased as Neeammal, the second wife of Basappa (55), a resident of Pancheswaram village in Hosur taluk in Krishnagiri district. After reaching Vellore New Bus Stand around 1.45 am on Tuesday, the woman along with the man, who was in his mid 50s, took an auto to Makkan Junction. He booked a room on the first floor of a lodge, Blue Diamond Guest House.
“The murderer booked Room no 107 in the name of Subramani. He also gave a visiting card to the lodge manager Natarajan. It helped us solve the case within couple of hours,” Inspector of Vellore North Police Station, K Pooncholai, who is the investigation officer in the case, said.
Around 4 am, the man went out of the lodge for tea and did not return till 5 am. The murder came to light when Natarajan went to switch on the motor to fill the overhead tank. On seeing blood seeping out of the room, he immediately alerted the lodge owner, Soukath Ali.
They immediately broke open the room which was locked from outside by the murderer. They found the woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood. “The woman died of multiple injuries on her face, neck, heads and palms. The woman struggled before she was hacked to death. We also found blood stained foot prints on the murder scene,” Assistant Director of Forensic Wing, K Pari, said.
The police alerted their counterparts in Hosur to arrest Subramani, who ran a hardware shop there. After arresting him, the police came to know of the real murderer. “On enquiring Subramani, we found that Basappa, who worked in his shop, had given a wrong name and address to the lodge owner to escape being caught for the crime,” the Inspector said.
The police also learnt that Basappa and Neeammal had left their village on Monday night informing their relatives that they were going to the Golden Temple in Vellore. “It was a pre-planned murder. Basappa, suspecting the fidelity of Neeammal, hacked her to death using a sickle,” the IO said further.
Within a few hours, Basappa confessed to the murder to his village vice-president Murugesan. He contacted him from a public telephone booth in Chennai. The police, after registering a case, dispatched two special teams to Hosur and Chennai to track down Basappa.
After post mortem, Neeammal’s body was handed over to her relatives.
