The police recently arrested a DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) councillor on charges of killing an auto-rickshaw driver by smashing his head with a hammer. Apart from R Damodharan, 50, councillor of Ward 45 of Tambaram City Municipal Corporation, three others have also been arrested for the alleged murder. According to the police, on December 21, a passerby in Padalam town under Chengalpet district noticed a man with serious head injuries lying around 25 metres from the main road and alerted them. The police reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem. On the other hand, a missing complaint had been filed at a local police station. The police identified the deceased as K Kumar, 40, a resident of Kolapakkam. During the investigation, it was discovered that the murder was committed on the night of December 20. The police noted that Kumar was last seen in the company of councillor Damodharan, known as ‘Kodi Dhamodharan’, who had earlier employed him as a helper. “A person closely associated with Damodharan had invited Kumar to a place and Kumar did not expect Damodharan to be present there. They both had a previous history as Damodharan suspected Kumar of having an illicit relationship with his wife, who passed away five months ago. He also believed that Damodharan had gotten away with Rs 90 lakh as well as some jewellery through his wife. They both had been having altercations over this issue for some time. On December 20, Damodharan after forcefully taking Kumar in a vehicle, attacked him with a hammer and later dumped his body and fled the spot,” a cop said. The Padalam police have registered a case under Sections 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 364 (kidnapping with intention of murder), 325 (punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They have also recovered a hammer that was purportedly used to commit the murder. The accused were arrested on Saturday and remanded in judicial custody on Sunday.
