Advocate, relative murdered in Thanjavur over property dispute, four arrested

P Kamaraj (40), a resident of Kuppankulam near Kumbakonam, an advocate and the Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam district advocates wing secretary had a dispute over sharing of an ancestral property with his relative Rajavelu, state secretary of BSP. It is said, the duo was quarrelling on the issue and had even an assault.

Two weeks back, the duo lodged complaint against each other at Natchiyarkoil police and the police called them both and asked them to settle the issue amicably. However, they had reportedly picked up a quarrel in front of the police and Kamaraj had allegedly bit the finger of Rajavelu and the police had pacified them.

Meanwhile, on Monday at 8.45 pm, when Kamaraj along with his friend Sakthivel (35) were on the way to their houses, a six-member gang stopped the duo and assaulted them with lethal weapons in which both Kamaraj and Sakthivel died on the spot.

Natchiyarkoil police retrieved the bodies and sent them to the Kumbakonam GH for post mortem. The information about the murder spread like a wild fire and the relatives of Kamaraj and Sakthivel converged in front of the Kumbakonam GH and started a protest demanding to arrest the culprits. They also blocked traffic and the police pacified them. Subsequently, the bodies were handed over to the relatives in the late hours.

Meanwhile, the IGP (Central Zone) HM Jayaram and SP Deshmukh Shekhar Sanjay camped in Kumbakonam and beefed up security to avert any untoward incidents. On Tuesday, the Kumbakonam Bar Association members staged a protest in front of the court demanding the arrest of the culprits.

In the evening, the Natchiyarkoil police arrested Rajavelu’s son Anand (33), his friend K Kannan alias Rajasekar (45), G Sasikumar (41) and C Sampath (22) from Kuppankulam.