COIMBATORE: In a major breakthrough in the investigation into the murder of Sathyamurthy, a distant relative of State Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, in Peelamedu a fortnight ago, the Coimbatore police have detained two persons for their alleged involvement in the crime. A hunt is on for their accomplice.The 55-year-old Sathyamurthy, a native of Theni, was working as a manager in Aditya Agency, a private company which was functioning on the ground floor of his house at Bharathi Colony in Peelamedu. He was killed by burglars who had entered his house in the wee hours of August 16. A special police team constituted on the directions of Coimbatore Police Commissioner Amaresh Pujari, had stumbled upon the involvement of Sathyamurthy’s former car driver Dhanraj and two of his accomplices in the crime based on a tip off from police in Dindigul. According to the police in Dindigul, they had recently arrested one Swami Das, a rice smuggler, in connection with the theft of a lorry.“When we grilled Das regarding the lorry theft and his whereabouts during the past fortnight, he panicked and revealed that he had murdered a man in Coimbatore along with two others. We in turn alerted the Coimbatore police, who have detained him for questioning,” a senior police officer in Dindigul told the Express on Wednesday.Das, a native of Dindigul, allegedly told the police that one Dhanraj, who had earlier worked as a car driver for Sathyamurthy, was the mastermind behind the crime.“Dhanraj and Das were friends and were together involved in smuggling rice from godowns near Irugur. Recently when they ran out of money, Dhanraj had come up with a plan to strike at Sathyamurthy’s house as he was aware that the latter would not be in Coimbatore for three days,” a source said.The two had roped in Jayaraj, a thief with a crime history, for assistance. On the fateful day, the three were trying to break open the rear door of Sathyamurthy’s house, when the victim had returned from his outstation trip, prompting them to kill him. Later, the three had escaped in Sathyamurthy’s car. However, Das’ face was captured in a video grab at the toll gate in Sankagiri in Salem district the same day. The photograph matched with that of habitual offenders. Subsequently, he was arrested and based on information provided by him the Coimbatore police were able to detain Dhanraj. A hunt is on for Jayaraj. The accused had allegedly sold the stolen car to a person in Chennai.
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