Juvenile among two held for 87-year-old's murder

CHENNAI: Police on Saturday arrested two men, including a juvenile, for Tuesday's murder of 87-year-old Veliyappan at Choolaimedu. A hunt is on for another man in this connection.
Police recovered five sovereigns of stolen gold jewellery from Vinoth Kumar alias 'Paambu' Vinoth, 25, and the juvenile. "We narrowed down on the suspects as they disappeared from the neighbourhood," South Chennai additional commissioner of police Abash Kumar told reporters at the police commissioner's office.
Police said Veliyappan, a former DMK councillor, lived alone and was being fed by his daughter-in-law Arya Mala who lived close to his residence. The slain man's grandchildren often came over at night and stayed with him. On Tuesday, Arya Mala served the octogenarian lunch and left for her house around 1.40pm. Later, she was alerted by neighbours that Veliyappan had collapsed. "I rushed there only to find him lying on the floor in the kitchen. We rolled him over and saw that he had been stabbed in the jaw," Arya Mala told reporters in the presence of police.
Vinoth Kumar, a repeat offender, had once spent 22 months in prison and was earlier detained under the Goondas Act.
"The three-member gang had come to rob Veliyappan and had no intention of killing him," Abhash Kumar said. A gold chain and a ring embossed with the DMK symbol that had been stolen from Veliyappan were recovered from the arrested men. Two knives used in the crime were also seized from them, police said.