On the night of October 22, in a modest house in Pothatturpettai village near Tiruttani, a government school laboratory assistant lay dead on his bed, his neck bearing the marks of what appeared to be a fatal snakebite. In villages along the scrub forests of northern Tamil Nadu, such deaths are not unheard of. Snakes are common, medical facilities distant, and accidents often explained away as fate.
At first, police treated the death as an accidental snakebite. But this death did not remain a simple tragedy for long.
Within weeks, police would conclude that E P Ganesan, 56, had not died by chance. He had been murdered, allegedly by his own sons, investigators say, through a meticulously planned plot that weaponised a venomous snake, exploited the appearance of an “accidental” death, and sought to unlock life insurance policies worth Rs 3 crore, alongside the promise of a government job on compassionate grounds.
Six people, including the two sons and four alleged accomplices, are now in judicial custody.
Ganesan worked as a laboratory assistant at a government girls’ higher secondary school in Pothatturpettai. He lived with his family in Nallathanneer Kulam, Podatturpet, Tiruvallur district. On October 22, his sons, Mohanraj, 29, and Hariharan, 26, took him to the Podatturpettai Government Hospital, telling doctors that a snake had bitten him while he slept on a cot at home. Doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The Podatturpettai police registered a case of unnatural death, initially treating it as an accidental snakebite. For the police, the matter may have ended there, but for an insurance company reviewing the family’s claim, the paperwork told a different story.
Ganesan, a modestly paid government school employee, was covered by multiple insurance policies. The family had taken 11 policies in total, with Ganesan alone insured for Rs 3 crore – four high-value policies taken within the previous six months. The scale of coverage appeared disproportionate to the family’s known sources of income and existing liabilities.
Story continues below this ad
The insurer flagged the case and approached Asra Garg, Inspector General of Police, North Zone, raising doubts about the bona fides of the death.
On December 6, acting on the complaint, Vivekananda Shukla, Superintendent of Police, Tiruvallur, ordered the formation of a special investigation team led by C Jaishree, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Gummidipoondi Sub-Division.
The team, comprising inspectors, sub-inspectors, and field officers, began by examining call data records, mobile phone conversations, and money transactions linked to the two sons. What emerged, police say, was a pattern of financial stress, multiple loans, and suspicious payments in the days leading up to Ganesan’s death.
Investigators also noticed something else: Ganesan had survived a snakebite just a week earlier.
Story continues below this ad
According to the police, the murder conspiracy did not succeed at the first attempt. About a week before October 22, Mohanraj and Hariharan allegedly arranged for a cobra to be brought into the house. While Ganesan slept, the snake was made to bite his leg.
That attempt failed. Neighbours rushed him to a hospital, and he survived. Rather than abandon the plan, an officer part of the investigation said, the brothers allegedly refined it.
In the early hours of October 22, police allege, the conspirators returned – this time with a more lethal animal. A highly venomous snake, identified in police accounts as a krait or Russell’s viper, was procured from forest areas near Manavur.
The logistical chain, according to investigators, ran through Balaji, 28, a former colleague of Mohanraj from a private company in Chennai. Balaji contacted Prashanth, 35, of Manavur village, who in turn brought in Dinakaran, 43, a snake catcher from Mosur village in Ranipet district. Naveenkumar, 28, also of Manavur, allegedly facilitated payments and coordination.
Story continues below this ad
The snake was transported in a gunny bag by car to Ganesan’s house. While Ganesan slept, police say, the Russell’s viper was deliberately made to bite Ganesan on the neck – three times while he was in deep sleep – an area far more likely to ensure rapid envenomation. “The bite was deliberate, controlled, and repeated to ensure fatality,” an officer said.
Police said Dinakaran, the snake catcher, killed the snake inside the house after confirming Ganesan’s death, to eliminate evidence and reinforce the appearance of an accidental bite. There was, police noted later, an “unexplained delay” in taking Ganesan to the hospital.
Financial records proved crucial. Police say Mohanraj paid Rs 1.5 lakh for the operation – Rs 90,000 transferred via Google Pay to Naveenkumar and Rs 60,000 handed over in cash. The money was allegedly shared among Dinakaran and the others involved.
The sons then moved to claim the insurance payout, insisting their father had died in a snakebite accident. It was this claim, and the scale of the coverage, that ultimately unravelled the plot.
Story continues below this ad
Within 10 days of focused investigation, the special team identified and arrested all six accused: Mohanraj, Hariharan, Balaji, Prashanth, Naveenkumar, and Dinakaran. Police seized a car, a motorcycle, and multiple mobile phones.
All six were produced before a court and remanded in judicial custody. Further investigation is ongoing. IG Asra Garg said the case had been cracked through “scientific, technical, and field-level investigation.” SP Vivekananda Shukla praised the team’s persistence in questioning what initially appeared to be an ordinary rural tragedy.
Snakebite deaths are common enough to fade into statistics. This one, investigators say, was engineered to do exactly that – to disappear into the everyday hazards of village life, especially in Tiruttani, which lies in the undulating, sometimes hilly Tiruvallur district, with dry scrub, thorny vegetation and a hot tropical climate.
