A 67-year-old oncologist and tobacco activist Dr Rohini Premkumari was found murdered in her house in Gandhi Irwin Road in Egmore, Chennai.
The body was first seen by a relative in the garden, with both her legs and hands tied. The intention of the murder was not theft as no valuables were missing, police said.
According to Times of India, her head was smashed with a boulder and the blunt force trauma to the head was the cause of death.
On Sunday at 11:30am, her mother Subadhra (87) called up Purasuraman, a relative as Rohini did not come to serve her breakfast. When he reached the house, he found Rohini lying unconscious in the garden. Police was immediately alerted about the incident.
Subadhra cannot get around on her own because of her age, the relative said. Rohini, a widow was staying with her mother. Subadhra was living in the ground floor and Rohini on the first floor.
An officer told TOI, " The doctor had hired a few workers to lay stones along the lawn. They demanded 1 lakh for the simple job so she refused to pay them, which led to an argument. We are probing this angle too."
There was a land dispute between the doctor and the owners of a restaurant from a couple of years ago. The police revealed these angles after preliminary investigation.
This is the second such incident in the locality in the last two months.
News, views and interviews- Follow our election coverage.
Click TN Election Special
Click Kerala Election Special