8 years on the run for double murder, man arrested from AP village

CHENNAI: Eight years after he escaped after allegedly murdering pregnant wife and 7-year-old stepson in Washermenpet, the city police have tracked and arrested the accused on Monday.

Two notices issued in Tamil and Telugu, which were circulated in WhatsApp groups of construction workers and local police in Sullurpeta bordering on TN-AP border, helped the police track down the suspect, identified as K Raju alias Danger (45).

A native of Mannar Polur in Andhra Pradesh, Raju was living in VOC Nagar and was working as a construction labourer. After his wife left him in 2014, Raju developed an affair and married M Gunasundari, a widow who lived in the same locality who had a seven-year-old son, Mahesh Kumar.

On November 15, 2014, Raju stabbed his mother-in-law, wife and her son after a domestic quarrel. Gunasundari, who was five months pregnant, and the boy died in the hospital, while her mother survived the attack, said officials.

Police reopened the case recently, and began tracking the accused. During inquiries, they found that his relatives were living in and around Sullurpeta in Andhra Pradesh. After coming across his photo on WhatsApp, labourers who worked under Raju alerted the police. Soon, officials went to Sathyavedu village, about 35 km from Sullurpet, and arrested him. Officials said Raju had married a 21-year-old woman and was living with her.

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