Four Lankans held for murder of Chennai youth

Eight months after an unidentified youth was found dead in a well in Austinpatti, the district police on Tuesday said they had solved the case and arrested four Sri Lankan nationals in this connection.

The deceased has been identified as Prem Anand (26) of Perambalur, who was working in Choolaimedu in Chennai.

The accused – J. Rajkumar (26), C. Stephen (29), S. Mahendran (36) and M. Durai (34) – all inmates of the Sri Lankan Refugee Camp at Uchapatti, were remanded in judicial custody.

The Austinpatti police had registered a case of suspicious death after they recovered the body from the well on February 13, 2013.

However, the police could not establish the identity of the deceased.

Meanwhile, the Choolaimedu police, who had registered a man missing case on March 28, were trying to trace Prem Anand.

Recently, the Chennai police got a vital clue from the missing person’s friend that led to the solving of the case.

Prem Anand had given his friend the phone number of a person in Madurai.

The police zeroed in on the suspect with the help of that phone number, Superintendent of Police V. Balakrishnan said.

Prem Anand had befriended Stephen’s wife through a social website and was in touch with her over phone, Tirunagar Inspector of Police P. Palani said.

Meanwhile, Stephen, got wind of their friendship.

When Prem Anand visited the woman here in December last, her brother Rajkumar and Stephen warned him against continuing his friendship with the woman.

However, Prem Anand did not pay heed to their warning and continued to call her over phone.

Meanwhile, Rajkumar and Stephen hatched a conspiracy, and invited Prem Anand to Madurai on the pretext of seeking help from him (Prem Anand) to find a job abroad for one of their relatives, the Inspector said.

When the youth came to Madurai, Rajkumar and Stephen, along with the two others, beat him to death and threw the body into the well.