Probe into murder of ex-MP’s wife hits dead end

Rathinam, wife of former MP R Kulandaivelu, was murdered by her son Praveen (36) in their house at Besant Nagar on April 14. Nearly after a month, the police arrested a couple, Sathya and Jothi of Palavakkam, for helping Praveen to understand the sharing of assets and abetting him.

The police said that the couple accompanied Praveen and waited outside when he strangulated Rathinam and stabbed in her chest multiple times, killing her on the spot. While police traced the couple with the help of Sathya’s autorickshaw registration number that was recorded by the CCTV cameras in the locality, they could not get any leads about Praveen from them.

The police have also issued alerts to all airports about Praveen to prevent him from flying abroad. However, the case has not progressed further. As police personnel were absorbed into election related duties, the investigation into the murder has taken a backseat,said sources.

When contacted, inspector Pazhavesan, who is investigating the case, said that it is beyond doubt that Praveen is the murderer and he would be arrested soon.

Meanwhile, the police have almost forgotten the double murder of a couple, Jegadeesan (68) and Vilasini (58), by housekeeping staff in Avadi. A week after the murder on November 27, the police released a photo of the suspect Podilappu Suresh Kumar leaving from MGR Chennai Central station along with wife and their infant. After this, there was no progress in the case.

As Jegadeesan (68) separated from his first wife and was living with Vilasini (58), whom he met while they were working in the government press, there was no pressure from their family members to nab the murderers. This made police forget the murder and move on, said sources. Officials of Ambattur police district were not available to comment on the progress of the case.