Skeleton of man missing for 18 mths found from farm well
The skeleton of a man who went missing 18 months ago was retrieved from a concrete-filled steel drum that was dumped in an abandoned farm well near Sriperumpudur. The police had initially claimed in the court that he went missing due to a family dispute, but were forced to act when it was found that money was transferred from the man’s account to that of his estranged lover’s lawyer last month.
The deceased, Konji Adaikkan (41) of Ponnaiyampatti village from Pudukkottai district was an employee of an automobile firm in Sriperumpudur since 1999. In 2009, he brought his cousin, also named Konji Adaikkan, his wife Chitra and a few relatives to stay at the new house that he built.
Over a period, he developed a relationship with Chitra. Furious over this, her husband left her and returned to his hometown. Meanwhile, Konji Adaikkan’s parents got him married to Pazhaniammal in 2015. Chitra opposed the marriage and refused to vacate the house, forcing him to move to rented premises in Kancheepuram. The couple has a girl child aged 3.
On August 3, 2019, Konji Adaikkan left for work but did not come back. Pazhaniammal lodged a complaint at Kancheepuram Taluk police station and then reportedly petitioned the district SP, but both in vain. Later, she filed a habeas corpus petition at the Madras High Court, but the police allegedly informed the court that it was a family dispute and closed the case.
When she filed another habeas corpus, the court was reportedly informed that a DSP-led team was probing the case. Meanwhile, Rs 3.50 lakh was transferred from Konji Adaikkan’s bank account to Chitra’s advocate through a cheque on February 19 after which Pazhaniammal submitted a petition to IG (North Zone) K Shankar on Feb 24.
Based on his order to solve the case within a week, officials grilled Chitra and a few others and found out that she murdered Konji Adaikkan with the help of few others after inviting him posing as another woman.
Police said Chitra’s men strangulated Konji Adiakkan while inside a car near Padappai and kept his body in a house for three days. Later, they bought a steel drum, placed his body inside and filled it with concrete mixture, which was let to dry for three days before throwing it into an abandoned farm well in Malaipattu village near Sriperumpudur.
Based on their confession, the water in the well was pumped out and the drum fished out on Saturday. When they broke the concrete, officials found Konji Adaikkan’s bones inside, which were sent for forensic examination.
Somangalam police arrested seven persons – Chitra (47), Ezhumalai (35), Ranjith Kumar (30), Tarzan Kumar (33), Sathish Kumar, Subramanian and Vivekanandan (30) – and are searching for a few more suspects.