Mason murdered man over work rivalry, stage it as suicide

CHENNAI: Two days after a 48-year-old mason was found dead in his house in Kodungaiyur and was suspected to have died of suicide, Chennai Police have arrested another mason from the neighbourhood for strangulating the victim to death and then staging it as suicide.

The deceased was identified as K Jayapal (48), a resident of Adivasi colony in Kodungaiyur. He lived with his wife and three children. On Monday evening, Jayapal was found dead in his residence after which MKB Nagar police secured the body.

However, preliminary autopsy results suggested that Jayapal might have been strangulated to death after which police perused the CCTV footage in the neighbourhood and investigated those who visited Jayapal on the day he was found dead.

Police picked up S Arumugam (40), another mason who lives in the same neighbourhood on suspicion. During investigations, it was revealed that Arumugam was upset with Jayapal as he was getting many construction projects while compared to him.

On Monday evening, noticing that Jayapal’s family members were not there, Arumugam went to his home and both of them got drunk. When Jayapal fell unconscious, Arumugam strangulated him to death and later with the help of an associate, staged it as a suicide.

Kodungaiyur police arrested Arumugam, was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Hunt is on for other person.