VILLUPURAM: When the Marakkanam police investigated the case of a missing 13-year-old boy, they did not know that they were on the trail of a killer who might have claimed the life of another young boy. The incident has sent shock waves in the region.
G Devanraj (13) of Nochikuppam was a class-8 dropout. He went missing on October 9. Police say that on that day, Devanraj had left early from home. After searching everywhere, his father lodged a complaint at the Marakkanam station. The cops formed two teams to investigate the case. When the police accessed the mobile call history of the victim, they found the last caller to be one K Abinesh (20), a resident of the same village.
CCTV visuals also revealed that the missing boy was last seen with Abinesh. The suspect was soon taken in for an inquiry. After a thorough probe, police said he confessed to having murdered Devanraj, and buried the body near a graveyard in the village. On Thursday, in the presence of the local tahsildar, the suspect was made to locate the spot where he buried Devanraj.
Amid cries of relatives and onlookers, police dug out the decomposed body of the child from the spot. Doctors and forensic experts collected samples, after which the remains were handed over to the family for final rites. Regarding a possible motive, a senior police official told The New Indian Express, "Devanraj's father Govindraj and Abinesh's father Kalaimani had a clash over a game of rummy. During the clash, Kalaimani was allegedly slapped by Devanraj's brother." Police suspect the murder was in retaliation or there might be another motive.
However, the location in which Devanraj was found buried sparked suspicion that Abinesh might have been involved in another murder.
A youngster named Rignesh, from the village, had gone missing in April 2019. His body was found a few days later close to where Devanraj had been buried. Based on this, police initiated another round of inquiry in which they said Abinesh confessed to having killed Rignesh as well. The motice for the murder remains unknown.
"We are planning on custodial inquiry of the accused as there could be other reasons for these two murders," said an officer. Abinesh was presented before the Tindivanam magistrate on Thursday evening and remanded in prison. Police are looking for Abinesh's parents who are absconding.
Now, villagers suspect Abinesh might have also been involved in the death of a girl seven years ago. The girl had gone missing and her body was found a few days later in a casuarina forest. The villagers have requested the police to revisit the girl's case.