Dharmaraj, a 21-year-old man, was arrested by Keezhapalur police officials in Tamil Nadu for allegedly murdering his friend Vignesh (26) on Tuesday, October 13. Vignesh was working with a private firm in Chennai. Dharmaraj and Vignesh both hailed from Poyyur in Ariyalur district and Vignesh was awaiting a job visa to fly to Singapore.
Speaking to TNM, Keezhpalur police said the duo went with one more friend Prabhakaran to consume alcohol behind a small bakery in Poyyur. According to the police, Vignesh body-shamed Dharmaraj and made fun of his stammering during their conversations. But, Dharmaraj showed no anger when Prabhakaran was there. The trio returned home after spending some time together.
“Again, around 7.15 pm, Dharmaraj invited Vignesh for a drink. Dharmaraj asked Vignesh to come to Mallur road by walking. Dharmaraj brought Vignesh on his two wheeler to the backside of the SIDCO (Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation Limited) industrial estate in Mallur where he had already hidden a cricket bat that he had brought from his house,” police sources told TNM.
Vignesh and Dharmaraj went to the backside of SIDCO and consumed alcohol. Dharmaraj showed no anger during the meeting, according to the police. He told Vignesh that he will come back in a minute after the first round of drinks. Later, he attacked Vignesh with the bat multiple times. “After he killed Vignesh, he threw the bat and his slippers in the Maruthaiyar river and returned to his house. He even went on to tell his friends that he tried to contact Vignesh but he was not available,” said the police.
Family members of Vignesh got worried as he didn't return home till the next morning. Later, local residents who went to SIDCO for work found his body in a pool of blood in Mallur and alerted the police. Keezhapalur police, who reached the spot, recovered Vignesh's body and sent it to the Ariyalur Medical College Hospital for post-mortem and conducted the investigation.
During our investigations, we had three suspects. One of Vignesh’s friends shared some information on suspicious behaviour of Dharmaraj on the night the murder happened. Initially, he was reluctant to cooperate and gave contradictory statements. Later, he confessed that he killed Vignesh as he was body-shaming him, police sources said.
A case was registered against Dharmaraj under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (Punishment for murder) and he was arrested on Thursday.
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