Chennai: An 80-year-old woman who lived alone in an apartment in T Nagar was found murdered on Friday, and Pondy Bazaar police arrested her domestic help, and detained her two accomplices, in connection with the crime. Police also recovered 12 sovereigns of stolen gold jewellery.The victim, Radha, had been living for the past seven years in a private apartment complex on Kuppusamy Street, T Nagar, following the death of her husband, Krishnamoorthy, a geologist. Her eldest son lives in the United States, her daughter is a lawyer in Delhi, and her younger son, Ramji, a retired pilot, resides in Chennai.Around 10am on Friday, Radha’s domestic help Ammu, 31, reported that repeated knocks on the apartment door had gone unanswered. She alerted a neighbour, Rathna, who informed Ramji. When he arrived and opened the locked apartment, he found his mother lying dead on a sofa in the living room with injuries to her face and neck. A pillow was found near the body.Police shifted the body to Govt ESI Hospital in KK Nagar for post-mortem. As investigators found that food ordered by Radha on Thursday evening had been delivered around 6.30pm, they suspected that the murder must have taken place between 4pm and 6pm.The apartment’s CCTV camera was found to be non-functional. However, officers examined footage from a neighbouring building and identified two men entering the locality during the suspected time of the murder and leaving shortly afterwards.Further questioning revealed that Ammu had conspired with the two men to murder Radha and rob her of her jewellery. Investigators said the domestic help had returned to the apartment the following morning as if nothing happened.Police recovered 12 sovereigns of gold jewellery from the accused. The remaining stolen valuables, including silver articles, were yet to be recovered.A case was registered by Pondy Bazaar police. Ammu was arrested, while the two men were detained for further questioning.
