Elderly couple living in cashew grove murdered near Mamallapuram

The deceased were identified as Sahadevan, 90 and his wife Janaki, 82

An elderly couple living alone at a cashew grove off East Coast Road(ECR) were found murdered in Nemmeli, near Mamallapuram. Their bodies were spotted only on Thursday evening.

The deceased were identified as Sahadevan, 90 and his wife Janaki, 82.

Sahadevan had worked as a gangman with the railways and was receiving a monthly pension of Rs.16,000. The couple’s five children have been staying at different places. After retirement, he and his wife took the grove from Alavandar Trust 10 years ago and were maintaining it besides staying alone at a hut. No one stayed near their hut.

On Thursday evening when one of their sons visited the house, he was shocked to see his aged father lying dead near the door of the house. His mother was missing. This was immediately informed to the police. Police personnel and relatives searched for the missing woman. Later, she was found lying with her head severed in a bush. Police, after recovering the bodies, sent them to Government General Hospital, Chengalpattu for post-mortem.

K.Jagadeeswaran, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mamallapuram began investigation into the murders and said, “Our preliminary investigation revealed that it was a case of murder for gain. We have intensified our investigation to trace the accused in the case.”

Gold ornaments were robbed from Janaki’s nose, neck and ears. Police suspect about 20 sovereign of gold jewellery went missing. The accused first attacked Sahadevan and chased Janaki since she was escaping from there. Then they murdered her and removed jewellery from her.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Kancheepuram Range P.Pakalavan and Superintendent of Police, Chengalpattu A.Pradeep visited the spot and held preliminary inquiries.