Tirunelveli : Nearly one-and-a-half months after a 38-year-old private company employee was found dead in a pond near Tirunelveli, police arrested two of his friends for stealing gold jewellery from him before leaving him at the spot.
Police examined footage from more than 100 CCTV cameras in the surrounding areas and found that Anand was taken on a motorcycle by his friend and co-worker Mahesh , 43, of Thachanallur, and Mariappan, 37, of Senthimangalam. Police said Mahesh and Mariappan stole the gold jewellery weighing around 4.5 sovereigns, worth about Rs5 lakh, from Anand and left him there.
Police said Anand, who was allegedly intoxicated, later stumbled into a nearby pond and drowned. They were remanded in judicial custody. Mahesh and Mariappan were arrested on Sunday and produced before a court.
On Aug 28, Anand left home, telling his family that he was travelling to Tuticorin for his official work.
Later that evening, he called his father, Muthiah, and said he was staying in a room in Tirunelveli with a friend and would return home after completing his work.
After Muthiah raised suspicion over his son’s death, police altered the case to a suspicious death and launched a detailed investigation. However, Anand went missing the following day. Based on his father’s complaint, Thachanallur police registered a missing-person case. During investigation, Anand was found dead in a pond at Kattudaiyar Kudiyiruppu, within the Thalaiyuthu police station limits.