COIMBATORE: Salem rural police arrested a 25-year-old man, suspected to be having mental health issues, for allegedly killing and beheading a stranger with whom he drank liquor on Wednesday night.
P Harishankari, DSP of Vazhapadi. said the suspect, Thirumalai of Kattur near Ayodhiyapattinam, carried the severed head for two kilometres by walking from where he killed the man and placed it on the roadside. Police said he had been detained under the Goondas Act and had come out on bail recently.
According to sources, around 8 pm on Wednesday, people passing on Ayoadhiyapattinam-Belur Road saw the severed head of a male at Kullampatti Pirivu which comes under Karipatti police station limits in Vazhapadi and informed police. A team recovered the head and started an investigation to establish his identity and the murderer. Meanwhile, Salem city police secured Thirumalai at the Seelanaickenpatti bus stand as he was moving around in a suspicious manner. Investigation revealed that he was involved in the murder near Ayodhiyapattinam.
According to police, the victim M Kumar (45) was a resident of Nadupatti in Salem and met Thirumalai by chance a few hours earlier. Thirumalai had snatched a 1.5 sovereign gold chain from a woman who was rearing cattle at Muthampatti near Vazhapadi.
He came to Kullampatti where he reportedly met Kumar near a Tasmac outlet. Initially, there was a quarrel between the two over some trivial issue but Thirumalai pacified Kumar and invited him to share a drink. They went to Agraharam Lake which is situated close by and started drinking liquor, Suddenly Thirumalai bludgeoned the victim’s head with a stone and severed his head. He carried the head to Kullampatti Pirivu Road and placed it on the roadside, DSP Harishankari said.
According to police, Thirumalai was arrested in two murder cases and came out on bail in August 2023 after getting the Goondas Act detention overturned by a court. Based on the information obtained from the investigation, Karipatti Police recovered Kumar’s body from Agraharam Lake and sent it for postmortem.
“The accused is a psychiatrically affected person. There was no motive behind the murder. We have recommended sending him for treatment first,” said P Harishankari, DSP of Vazhapadi.