CHENNAI: P Kumar, a 71-year-old retired employee of the Greater Chennai Corporation and national functionary of the DMK’s Labour Progressive Federation, was kidnapped from Tambaram and strangled to death in a moving car on Sunday. The incident came to light after his family reported to the police that he was missing since Sunday.
According to police, Kumar was looking after a property in Uthandi along ECR, which belonged to his friend in Mumbai. The land was allegedly barricaded in an illegal manner by a gang a few months ago, claiming ownership. Kumar found that ‘Acharapakkam’ Ravi and his associates were attempting to grab the land.
Though he lodged a complaint, the Tambaram police inquired both parties and found Ravi’s documents forged. Police warned Ravi and advised both sides to take the dispute to the court. On Sunday, Ravi allegedly called Kumar for a meeting at Tambaram bus stand. When he arrived, Ravi and his gang allegedly abducted Kumar in a car, strangled him to death near Singaperumal Koil, and buried the body at Gingee in Villupuram district.
Perusing Kumar’s call records, police found that he had last spoken to Ravi. A police source told TNIE, “A team has been sent to Gingee to exhume the body in the presence of district revenue officials. It will be sent for postmortem after formal identification by the family.” Police arrested Ravi and two of his associates have been detained.