Tamil Nadu: Man held for killing elderly relatives, stealing Rs 50 lakh cash, 150 gold coins

Officers said 68-year-old Sanjeev Reddy and his wife Mala lived at Bharathiyar street in Thiruttani. Reddy had been running a private chit fund for over 25 years, in which Ranjith was associated with him.

On July 29, finding Reddy’s mobile phone switched off, his brother Balu went to his house and saw it was locked. Suspicious, he broke the lock with the help of local residents, only to find the safe and cupboard inside left open. Balu then approached the D1 Thiruttani police. On investigation, it was found that 150 sovereigns of gold, cash worth Rs 50 lakh, and other asset documents had gone missing from the financier’s house.

Analysing the CCTV footage and call recordings, the police found it was Ranjith Kumar who had been in contact with Reddy. The police caught hold of the 28-year-old, who runs a store in the area. “While Ranjith initially denied his role in the killing, he later confessed that he, with two of his friends Vimal Raj and Robert, had killed his uncle and aunt as he was in need of money,” an officer said.

The police said Ranjith had convinced his relatives to come in his car to a temple in Puthur. Later, near the Ramachandurapuram forest area, the group strangled the couple to death and buried them. They later went to Reddy’s house to steal the gold and the cash.

The bodies were exhumed and handed over to the family after post-mortem. Two cars and other valuables have been seized.