Illustration: Shinod Akkaraparambil
On Oct 22, E P Ganesan, 56, a lab assistant at a govt girls’ higher secondary school in Podaturpet, was found dead at his house. Based on a complaint lodged by his son Mohanraj, 26, the Podaturpet police registered a case of unnatural death, initially viewing the death as an accidental snake bite. Ganesan’s sons, Mohanraj, 26, and Hariharan, 27, employed at a private firm, had plotted to murder their father to claim the insurance payout. To execute the plan, they took the help of their friend G Balaji, 28, who in turn contacted B Prashanth, 35, S Dinakaran, 43, and G Naveenkumar, 27, of Manavur village. Detailed analysis of the call records of the two sons and scrutiny of unusual financial transactions of ₹2 lakh, linked them to four other accused.
They arranged venomous snakes and staged the incident, police said. Police said they found an unexplained delay in shifting the victim to hospital, strengthening the suspicion that the crime was premeditated. CHENNAI: A death by snakebite has turned out to be murder at Podaturpet village in Tiruvallur district. The plot is diabolic. However, the narrative began to unravel after an insurance company flagged serious doubts over the claims submitted by the family, citing suspicious conduct by the sons of the deceased. Police studied the call records and money transactions of the sons and uncovered a chilling tale. Investigators grew suspicious about the two snake bite incidents within a span of a week; the accused claimed the village was infested with snakes. So far, six accused—the two sons and four accomplices—have been arrested, and further investigation is underway.
Investigators found that Ganesan’s family had availed of multiple loans and taken several high-value insurance policies valued at ₹3 crore, which were disproportionate to their known sources of income. Ganesan was bitten by a cobra a week before he was found dead. Then, neighbours had rushed him to hospital and saved his life. The second time, the snake was a krait and it had bitten Ganesan on the neck. There was also a delay in shifting him to hospital.
IG, north zone, Asra Garg, and SP, Tiruvallur, Vivekananda Shukla, ordered the formation of a special investigation team on Dec 6.
SP Shukla told TOI the unusual insurance coverage raised suspicion about the true cause of death.