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New Indian Express
02-06-2025
- New Indian Express
Second SI suspended in Pollachi murder case over extortion allegations
COIMBATORE: Another sub-inspector (SI) attached to the special team, which investigated the murder of the 24-year-old with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at Pollachi, was placed under suspension. He had allegedly shared the money with the SI, who was arrested on Saturday for extortion of money and jewels from the four-member family accused of murdering the youth. Maharaja (30), the associate of the arrested SI Navaneethakrishnan (27) from Mettupalayam police station, has been placed under suspension, police sources said. Sources said SR Varunkanth of Karavali Mathappur, was staying at Yuthira Charitable Trust (Special Children Care and Training) in Pollachi, when he was beaten to death at the home and later buried in the trust's farmland at S Nagoor on May 12. Concealing the murder, the trust fabricated a story that the youth had gone missing during an outing to Aliyar on May 15.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Time of India
Murder of youth near Pollachi: Five more arrested
COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore district police on Wednesday arrested five more people in connection with the murder of a youth at a centre for persons with developmental disorders near Pollachi. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The five arrested have been identified as Kavitha, 53, her husband Lakshmanan, 54, their daughters Shruthi, 23, and Shreya, 20, and Shaji, 27, one of the alleged masterminds behind the murder. Kavitha, Shruthi and Shreya are trustees of the organisation that runs the centre. A senior police officer said the five accused confessed to their involvement in the murder of S R Varunkanth, 24, of Karavali Madappur in the district who suffered from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He was admitted to Yuthira Charitable Trust (Special Children Care and Training Centre) in Rathinasabapathy Puram near Pollachi more than three months ago. The police earlier arrested six people, including the caretakers of the centre, in connection with the murder. The arrests were made after police exhumed the victim's body from a farm at S Nagoor near Nadupuni, where it was buried on May 13 — a day after the murder. According to police, Varunkanth was assaulted with sticks and plastic pipes by some of the accused from May 9, allegedly in response to aggressive behaviour he exhibited.
New Indian Express
25-05-2025
- New Indian Express
Missing disabled youth murdered, buried by care home staff in Tamil Nadu
COIMBATORE: The 24-year-old disabled youth who had been reported missing from a care home in Pollachi was beaten to death by the trustees and staff at the facility on May 12, Coimbatore district rural police revealed on Saturday. Police arrested four people in connection with the murder. Police exhumed the body of the young man, SR Varunkanth, from the farmland owned by the trust at S Nagoor near Nadupuni in Pollachi in the presence of the Pollachi sub-collector in-charge and the tahsildar and handed it over to his parents after postmortem on Saturday evening. Varunkanth hailed from Karavali Mathappur in Sulur Block. According to the FIR registered based on his parents' complaint, he had Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). T Ravikumar and Banumathi had admitted their son at the Yuthira Charitable Trust (Special Children Care and Training Centre) at Rathinasabapathy Puram in Pollachi in February. They had approached the police after the home claimed that Varunkanth had gone missing during the home's outing to Aliyar Dam on May 15. Police on Saturday said that, in fact, the youth had been murdered and buried on May 12. 'The trustees refused to take Varunkanth to a theme park in Mettupalayam, claiming that he was not obeying them. They took the other inmates and left him alone at the home. "This has caused the youth a lot of embarrassment and he apparently behaved aggressively. The trustees and staff at the home got angry and started beating him with cricket bats and plastic pipes. They continued assaulting the youth, till he fell unconscious and died,' a senior police official said. The suspects then allegedly wrapped the body in a plastic cover and transported it by auto to the farmland. There they dug at least five pits before burying the body and planting a sapling over the site, police said. To mask any odours, they sprayed cow dung mixed with water after burying him, police added.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Time of India
‘Thrashed with sticks, plastic pipes': Rehab home staff beat Tamil Nadu youth with ADHD to death
A 24-year-old with ADHD, Varunkanth, was allegedly beaten to death by caretakers at a rehabilitation center near Pollachi after being admitted in February 2025. Police exhumed his body and arrested four individuals involved in the crime. COIMBATORE: Police on Saturday exhumed the body of the 24-year-old youth with ADHD who went missing from a rehabilitation centre near Pollachi and said he had been beaten to death by the caretakers. Four people have been arrested for the crime. "The youth behaved very aggressively at the home. The trustees and staff of the rehabilitation home beat him with sticks and plastic pipes on multiple occasions from May 9. The youth was beaten to death on May 12," said Dr K Karthikeyan, superintendent of police, Coimbatore district. After the arrest of four people, police learned that on May 13, they buried the body on land the centre owned near Nadupuni. Police said Shaji and Dr Kavitha, who were trustees of the home, were the masterminds. They are still on the run. "Our six special police teams are working to nab the remaining people," said a police officer. Staff visited dam to cook up 'missing' plot The family admitted Varunkanth to Yuthira Charitable Trust (Special Children Care and Training Centre) at Rathinasabapathy Puram in Pollachi for rehabilitation on Feb 4, 2025. The family agreed to pay Rs 40,000 a month and Rs 1 lakh as donation to the home. The initial amount of Rs 50,000 as a donation was paid. The parents were to visit their son once every six months. The youth's father, Ravikumar, received information on May 15 that he went missing when all 27 inmates of the home were taken to the Aliyar dam. Ravikumar filed a police complaint and investigations began. "Initially, the home staff cooperated with the police. Meanwhile, we came to know that the boy was murdered, and the body was buried," said SP Karthikeyan. The police formed six special teams and arrested Giriram, 36, a native of Thiruvannamalai, who worked as a trustee of the rehabilitation home, another trustee's father Senthil Babu, 54, from Pollachi, Nithish, 26, staff of the home, and Ranganayaki, 36, from Thoppampatti near Pollachi. The arrested persons confessed to the murder and were remanded in judicial custody on Saturday night. "The trustees and staff visited the Aliyar dam and park area on May 14 to cook up a story that Varunkanth went missing. They chose areas where CCTVs were not covered in the Aliyar area," police said. The decomposed body of Varunkanth was exhumed on Saturday evening, and a spot postmortem was carried out. Later, the body was handed over to the family.
The Hindu
24-05-2025
- The Hindu
Body of inmate missing from Pollachi centre for special children exhumed, four arrested
The Coimbatore rural police on Saturday exhumed the body of a youth with intellectual disability from a private property in Nadupuni village in Pollachi North Block, and arrested four persons from Yuthira Charitable Trust (Special Children Care and Training Centre) at Rathinasabapathy Puram, located about 20-km away, where the deceased was an inmate earlier. The police established that the trustees and the staff of the centre had beaten up Varunkanth, 24, to death, and buried the body surreptitiously in a bid to cover up the crime. Police conducted a postmortem on the spot and handed over the decomposed body found to the family. Giriram, 36, of Thiruvannamalai, a trustee; Senthil Babu, 54, father of another trustee; Nitish, 26, a staff member, and Ranganayaki, 36, of Thoppampatti near Pollachi were arrested and remanded in judicial custody. The youth's father T. Ravikumar of Karavalli Mathappur in Coimbatore was initially deceived into believing by the Trust authorities that Varunkanth had gone missing while on a sightseeing trip. The youth suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was admitted to the facility by his family about three months ago. Three days after committing the murder, the trust authorities had, on May 15, informed Ravikumar about the disappearance of Varunkanth and also prompted to lodge a police complaint. The police learnt that the Trust authorities had, on May 9, taken all other inmates barring Varunkanth, to a theme park near Mettupalayam, purportedly due to his aggressive condition. Subsequently, his aggression had accentuated. The trustees and staff of the rehabilitation home had beaten him up severely with wooden logs and plastic pipes for three days till May 12, causing his death, K Karthikeyan, Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore district, said. The trustees and the staff had thereafter readied five pits at the private land they owned at Nadupuni, under the pretext of agricultural activity, and buried the body in the morning hours of May 13, in one of the pits. On May 14, the trustees and staff took the rest of the 26 inmates to Aliyar Dam to enforce credence to their contention that Varunkanth had gone missing during the sightseeing trip. The authorities of the trust who had cooperated with the police at the initial stage, went absconding and switched off their phones as the investigation progressed. Police sources said two other trustees Shaji and Kavitha, a doctor, who were at large, were the masterminds in the crime. The police are on the lookout for them.
