Chennai: A preliminary inquiry into the death of Tamil Nadu Congress functionary K.P.K. Jayakumar Dhanasingh has suggested that he may have been killed and his body burnt, ThePrint has learnt.
Jayakumar also purportedly wrote a letter to the police alleging that he had received death threats from people who owed him money and named several Congressmen.
The police, who had so far been probing the possibility of Jayakumar having immolated himself, are awaiting the final autopsy report to officially turn the case into that of murder.
Jayakumar, the Congress’ Tirunelveli East district president, was reported missing last Friday and his half-burnt body was found Saturday around 200 metres away from the backyard of his house.
A special team headed by the Tirunelveli superintendent of police (SP), which has been investigating Jayakumar’s case, has now suggested the possibility of murder.
“The body was fully tied up with steel wires. There were marks on the hands of being tied with steel wires used for fencing. The doctors who performed the autopsy suggested that it was not a case of self-immolation but rather he was killed before being burnt,” a police officer who is part of the investigation team told ThePrint.
SP N. Silambarasan told ThePrint that the police were looking at the murder angle. “So far, we have interrogated as many as 70 people regarding Jayakumar’s death. Once we solve the case, full details will be revealed,” he said, adding that the police had formed three special teams to investigate the case.
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai also said the party had formed a special internal committee to probe the death of Jayakumar since he had purportedly made allegations about a few party men in the letter addressed to the Tirunelveli police.
‘Jayakumar’s letter’
On the evening of Friday, Jayakumar’s son Karuthaiah Jafrin, 28, filed a complaint with the Uvari police in Tirunelveli district that his father had been missing since around 7.45 pm Thursday.
According to the complaint, Jayakumar did not return home after stepping out. At the time of filing the complaint, Karuthaiah also submitted to the police a letter purportedly written by Jayakumar on 30 April. ThePrint has accessed the letter.
Addressed to the Tirunelveli SP, the letter alleges that Jayakumar had received death threats from people who owed him money when he had asked them to return it.
The letter further demands criminal action against people who had allegedly cheated Jayakumar, and asks the police to retrieve money and property from his debtors and give it to his family.
Allegations were levelled in the letter against the Congress’ Nanguneri MLA Ruby Manoharan and former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu about issuance of indirect death threats when they were asked to return several lakhs spent on Manohoran during the 2021 Tamil Nadu election.
“If anything untoward happens to me, only these people are responsible for it,” Jayakumar purportedly wrote in the letter.
The police said they had summoned Manoharan, Thangkabalu and other Congress functionaries named in the letter, apart from Jayakumar’s neighbours and family members.
When ThePrint reached Manoharan, he said there were no financial dealings between him and Jayakumar.
“We were good friends and even for the Lok Sabha polls, we worked together for the victory of our (Tirunelveli) candidate C. Robert Bruce. I suspect that someone is behind this allegation to defame me,” he said.
Thangkabalu, who appeared before the police Tuesday for inquiry in the case, told the media that there was no need for him to take money from Jayakumar.
“I was coordinating election work at Tirunelveli. By that time, I was coordinating with Jayakumar as well. In fact, I was the first person in the party to offer him a post,” he said.
When ThePrint asked him about the allegations against Congress functionaries, Selvaperunthagai said the party wanted justice for Jayakumar. “We demand a free and fair probe into the death of Jayakumar. Whoever is responsible should be brought to book,” he added.
He also said the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress had formed a special team to inquire into the allegations against senior leaders.
“The internal inquiry committee will interrogate every person mentioned in the letter. The committee will also speak to Jayakumar’s family members to corroborate the details,” he told ThePrint.
‘No one saw or heard anything that night’
A senior Tirunelveli police officer part of the special investigation team inquiring into the death of Jayakumar told ThePrint that a scrubber had been recovered from the body.
“At the time of recovery of the body, a lot of things were not known and since only the front portion of the body was burned, it was presumed to be suicide. However, later we found that he had been tied with steel wires and we also found a scrubber in his mouth,” the officer said.
Though the body of Jayakumar was found just 200 metres away from his house, neither his family members nor his neighbours heard anything on the night of Thursday and Friday.
“We inquired with the family members and neighbours as well. None of them had seen or heard anything untoward in the area. The CCTVs installed in Jayakumar’s house were not in working condition. As many as 30 people are under watch in connection with the case,” the officer said.
About Jayakumar’s purported letter, the officer said: “The letter was addressed to the SP and it was dated 30 April. Another letter, which Jayakumar had posted to his son-in-law, surfaced a day after recovery of the body. We don’t know why he did not post the letter addressed to the SP and only posted the one addressed to his son-in-law. We have sent the letter to the forensic laboratory in Chennai to check if it was written by Jayakumar or not,” the officer explained.
ThePrint has accessed the second letter too, and it is on the same lines as the one addressed to the SP.
Silambarasan said the police were probing the case from all angles. “We are waiting for the complete autopsy report and laboratory reports on Jayakumar’s letter. Both reports would shed more light on the case,” the SP said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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