The Chennai Police have arrested three persons in connection with the triple murder in the city's Sowcarpet area on Wednesday, 11 November. A family of three – Thalil Chand (70), Pushpa Bai (70) and the couple’s son Sheetal Chand (42) – were found dead with bullet injuries at their house on Wednesday night. The accused persons, including Shrishith’s brother-in-law, were arrested from Maharashtra's Solapur district after an intense car chase.
Pinki, the couple’s daughter reported to the Elephant Gate police that her parents and brother Sheetal were shot dead. Initial investigations revealed that the family had been threatened by Sheetal’s brothers-in-law Vikas and Kailash. Sheetal and his wife Jayamala, who moved to Pune after their wedding, were in the middle of a bitter divorce settlement where her family was allegedly demanding more alimony.
Speaking to the media, Chennai Police Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Agarrwal said that five special teams had been formed to conduct the investigations. This included officials of the additional, deputy and joint commissioner rank. Technical intelligence, human intelligence and CCTV cameras were used to make deductions.
However, according to the Commissioner, Sheetal had filed a police complaint about receiving threats, even before his murder. "As soon as the case was reported, we got hints of a family dispute. Sheetal Chand had already told the police about a matrimonial dispute and the family had said that they had received threats. But they couldn't identify who the culprits were. So the investigation was already underway in that matter," he told the media.
The police suspected that the accused in the murder case could escape to Maharashtra. They then alerted the Andhra Pradesh Police. The Karnataka and Maharashtra Police were also involved in the investigation.
“We got the vehicle number of the accused and they were traced to Solapur. One inspector and five other police officials from Chennai left to Pune at 6.30 am on Thursday to nab the accused. They coordinated with the Pune police,” explained the commissioner.
“Their vehicle was spotted at Solapur and when the police began to chase them, they started speeding. They were finally intercepted and three persons were arrested. This included Kailash and his two friends, Ravindranath and Vijay,” he added.
According to the police, a total of six persons were involved in the case. This included three relatives of the murdered family members and three other friends. Efforts are now underway to nab the other accused as well.
(This story was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission)
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