The men had killed three gang members and burnt their bodies

What unfolded at Korukkupet this week, resembled scenes from a crime thriller — with cold-blooded killings and meticulous disposal of the corpses, not to mention vendetta.

At Korukkupet police station, a rather curious case of a kidnap unfolded, with a 57-year-old man at the centre of it. But as the police kept investigating, they unearthed three brutal killings allegedly committed by the man and his long-time friend, back in the 1990s.

The story began on April 11 after Prakash (27), a resident of Ilaya Mudali Street in Korukkupet, approached the Korukkupet police to complain that his father Ramachandran (57), a crab dealer, had gone missing.

Two days later, he told police that he had received a call to pay Rs. 10 lakh as ransom for his father’s release. A team led by Inspector R.D. Govindh however, found Ramachandran hiding at a location in Korukkupet.

Police found that a man, Thiyagarajan, had made the call and asked Prakash to collect money for ransom from his father’s childhood friend and neighbour, Anbil Gyana Durai alias Anbu (56) who runs a plastic goods firm.

When questioned, Ramachandran revealed that he had staged the kidnap drama to extract money from Durai after things turned sour between them in 2013.

“Further questioning revealed that Durai and Ramachandran had murdered and burnt the bodies of three men including a rowdy from Ayodhya Kuppam identified as Murugan at a spot in Chengalpattu in 1996, 1998 and 1999 respectively,” Inspector Govindh told The Hindu .

Following this, police detained Durai and on questioning him, found confirmation of the triple murders which had remained unsolved until now.

In 1996, Durai’s wife Jhansi was murdered at home in Korukkupet by a seven-member gang who also robbed 60 sovereigns of gold and Rs. 1 lakh cash.

Police arrested Mariappan from Tirunelveli, Murugan from Tiruvottiyur and Lakshmanan, Arumugam, Muthu, Raji and Kannan, all from Tondiarpet.

“Durai suspected his brother Paul Anbazhagan ordered the killing and decided to exterminate the suspects. He along with Ramachandran and rowdy Murugan murdered Mariappan in 1996 and Muthu in 1998 in Chengalpattu. The duo also murdered Murugan at the same location the following year,” added assistant commissioner (Washermanpet) B. Deivasigamani.

In retaliation for Jhansi’s murder, Durai later murdered his brother Paul along with Ramachandran in 2002 at New Washermanpet and made it look like death caused due to a car accident.

“A thorough probe revealed Paul was murdered and Durai and Ramachandran were then arrested and sent to prison. The duo was released in 2003 and following a rift, they parted ways. But Ramachandran fell out with Durai two years ago,” the officer added.

Durai and Ramachandran were remanded to judicial custody early on Thursday and are expected to be taken into police custody soon to unearth the mystery behind more murders if any.

The murders were discovered after one of the men staged a kidnap drama last week