The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Uttaradhi Mutt administrator found murdered

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Friday, Jan 21, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Uttaradhi Mutt administrator found murdered

By V. Venkatasubramanian

KANCHEEPURAM, JAN. 20 . Srinivasachari (45), administrator, Uttaradhi Sri Vaishnava Mutt, Kancheepuram branch, was found murdered this morning.

The crime came to light when the inmates of the Mutt woke up on a call from a milkman, who came around 6 a.m. They found the administrator lying in a pool of blood on a bench near the main entrance.

According to Ramayanji (61), administrator of the Sriperumpudur branch of the Mutt, Mr. Srinivasachari asked him to come over to Kancheepuram as he wanted to leave for his native place in Bihar today to perform obsequies for his mother. (The Mutt has its headquarters in Bihar).

Both were chatting after dinner at the Mutt and they retired at midnight last night. This morning, Mr. Ramayanji woke up and came out of his room on hearing Ramu, who came to milk a cow. He found that the main gate was open and Ramu was standing near the bed of Mr. Srinivasachari, who had cut injuries in the head. Mr. Ramayanji immediately informed the Vishnu Kanchi police station. A sniffer dog dashed out of the Mutt after picking up scent, ran up to the eastern tower of the Varadaraja Perumal temple and took a left turn to the street where the house of the slain temple manager, Sankararaman, is located. From there the dog went towards Chennai-Kancheepuram road abutting the northern compound wall of the temple. It picked up scent at the main entrance of the temple and ran along Sannadhi Street before losing scent at the Sannadhi Street-Chetty Street junction.

A search for fingerprints was conducted on the Mutt premises.

After removing the body for post mortem, S.G. Rajendran, Deputy Inspector-General, Chengalpattu Range, responding to queries from reporters on the motive for the attack, said financial transactions were insignificant as the Mutt had only a few pieces of immovable property in Kancheepuram and a few acres of agricultural land at Thenampakkam, near here.

Mr. Srinivasachari had been running the Mutt with the meagre sum realised from agriculture and helped pilgrims from the north, who came to the Mutt for overnight stay.

No comparison

Asked whether the modus operandi in the crime was similar to the murder of Sankararaman, Mr. Rajendran said a stab injury, caused by a blunt weapon and a knife, was found on the person of Mr. Srinivasachari. The front doors of the Mutt were locked and hence this crime could not be compared with the Sankararaman murder case.

In the Sankararaman case, the culprits entered the temple office in the evening, attacked the manager and fled.

3 teams formed

Enquiries show that two teams headed by inspectors Mohanavel of the Vishnu Kanchi station and Srinivasan of the Koyambedu station, Chennai, who form part of the special investigation team probing the Sankararaman murder case, and another team headed by Ravi Kumar, inspector, Sriperumpudur station, have been formed to track down the culprits.

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