Ponneri DMK councillor Elango and two of his aides have been arrested, while one is absconding, the police said.
Left Corner - Deceased Balamurugan Right Corner - Councilor Elango (white Sirt)
A DMK councillor and two of his aides were arrested on charges of beating to death a man who opposed them in a property dispute.
One other aide is on the run.
The shocking incident happened in Ponneri in the Thiruvallur district on Saturday, 11 March.
According to the police, Mohan, a resident of Ponneri, and his sister Nandhini had a dispute over sharing their ancestral properties.
Nandhini was residing in a house claimed by Mohan and his daughter Gayathri, who were insisting that she move out.
Last week, Nandhini and members of her family had beaten Gayathri for asking her to vacate the house. Nandhini also approached Elango, DMK councillor of the 14th ward of Ponneri Municipality, seeking his support.
Elango and his aides warned Gayathri against seeking rights over the property, the police said.
When Gayathri remained undeterred and asked the councillor to stay away from their family dispute, Elango and his henchmen went her house and attacked and injured her as well as her sister Keerthi.
Following this, on 10 March, Gayathri lodged a police complaint against councillor Elango, Nandhini and her family, and even submitted CCTV footage related to the incident.
Gayathri was helped in filing the complaint against the councillor by Robert, a family friend, and Balamurugan, a resident of Nandhiyapakkam and a relative.
The police summoned both parties, including the councillor, and held talks with them.
This irked councillor Elango. The next day, on 11 March, Balamurugan was found lying with severe head injuries near the Aaladu railway gate.
Passersby alerted the police and also informed the 108 ambulance service and shifted him to Ponneri Government Hospital, but he succumbed on the way and declared brought dead by doctors.
The Ponneri police registered a case and the investigation revealed that the DMK councillor Elango’s aides —Vinod Kumar, Rajkiran and Dilip Kumar — had beaten Balamurugan with a stone for speaking against their leader.
They had also attacked Robert, who managed to escape with injuries.
Police arrested Elango and his aides Vinodh, Kumar and Rajkiran on murder charges and have remanded them in judicial custody.
Dilip Kumar is still absconding, according to the police.
Gayathri’s relatives have alleged that if the police had arrested Elango and his aides when she first lodged a complaint, the murder would not have happened.
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