THOOTHUKUDI: A 47-year-old realtor was allegedly mowed to death by a speeding tipper lorry at Kumaragiri on the Ettayapuram-Kovilpatti road on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as R Duraipandian (47) of Vinayaka Nagar in Kovilpatti. Three people, Udhayakumar, a relative of Duraipandian, lorry owner Nagaraj (43), a native of Tholmalaipatti, and lorry driver K Sivaraman (21) of Pannerkulam, were arrested in connection with the murder. According to Ettyapuram police, the incident was based on personal enmity between the realtor and the suspects.
Following the incident, an investigation focussed on the CCTV footage of the region led the police to lorry owner Nagaraj and driver Sivaraman. After interrogation, Sivaraman spilled the beans and confessed to executing the conspiracy of Udayar alias Udhayakumar, and the Ettayapuram police booked the suspects under murder charges, sources said.
Further probe revealed that there was an ongoing dispute between Duraipandian and Udhayakumar over some pending money issues, which escalated into personal enmity. Subsequently, Udhayakumar conspired to murder Duraipandian with the help of lorry owner and driver, sources added. It is also learnt that Udhayakumar had dialled Duraipandian twice on the day he got killed. His body was shifted to Ettayapuram government hospital.