More than 500 farmhouses under surveillance following triple murder in Palladam

CHENNAI: The police have set up 14 special teams to investigate the triple murder that took place in Palladam a week ago and are monitoring more than 500 farmhouses in Erode district, according to a Maalaimalar report.

An elderly couple and their son were brutally murdered last Friday at their farmhouse in Palladam and relieved of their valuables by an unidentified gang.

Following this, the Erode district police have stepped up patrolling and are monitoring all the secluded farmhouses in the region where elderly couple stay alone without adequate security. Nearly 14 special teams have been formed to investigate the case.

The police said that they have noticed similarities between the Palladam murder case and another case that took place few months ago at Arichalur in Erode where an elderly couple who lived alone in their farmhouse were murdered for their valuables. "We had arrested more than 14 people in the Arichalur murder and some of them are out on bail. So we are investigating to see if any of them were involved in the Palladam triple murder," police said. They also said that both the cases have a similar modus operandi which has forced them to look at those involved in the previous murder.

Police said that they are wary of such incidents repeating as there were many elderly couple who live alone in secluded farmhouses in Erode and they could be easy targets to criminals. In an effort to curtail this, the cops have intensified patrolling and are monitoring these farmhouses round-the-clock. "There are many secluded farmhouses in areas like Arichalur, Perundurai and Sennimalai. We are monitoring them closely," police said.

Speaking about this, the police said that they are totally 570 farmhouses in the district out of which nearly 270 are in Perundurai. "We are prioritising homes where the elderly live alone and are sending teams of cops directly there to monitor them," said a senior police official. Cops are also conducting regular vehicle checks and are interrogating people who indulge in suspicious activity.