CHENNAI: Shops in Moolakadai downed their shutters in protest against the murder of a prominent grocery store owner of the area in the wee hours of Wednesday. Around 2 am, ‘Gajalakshmi Provision Store’ owner Rajarathinam (52) was attacked at Kamarajar Nagar, while returning from his shop to his house in Gandhinagar, Kodungaiyur. “We arrived at the spot at 2.25 am,” ACP (MKB Nagar) Govi Manoharan told Express. The police found Rajarathinam with severe head injuries. A blood-stained four-foot wooden log was found lying near him at the scene of crime in Kamarajar Salai. The grocer was rushed to hospital, but he died on the way. “In the absence of any signs of struggle, we suspect that the assailants were known to the victim,” he added. The ACP said Rajarathinam, a native of Mudalipatti in Sivakasi, started off by working in a grocery shop here before setting up his own store at Moolakadai junction about 15 years ago. He bought the building for Rs 7 lakh about a decade ago and had seven employees. Some of them stayed on the first floor of the building and the victim’s wife Lakshmi cooked dinner for them. He had also recently purchased a house for Rs 48 lakh in Gandhinagar. Describing the victim’s routine, the ACP said he arrived at his shop around noon and left at 2 am after checking the collection amount, which ranged between Rs 50,000 and Rs 70,000 per day. “He rarely carried cash with him while going home,” he added. Rajarathinam left his shop in the wee hours of Wednesday and one of his staff, Shiva, was the last to see him alive. He was attacked just 500 metres from his shop. Police found that the assailants had divested the victim of his light green shirt and left him in his vest and shorts. “The killers could have removed the shirt thinking that he was carrying cash in his pocket. But, a one-sovereign gold ring on his finger was intact,” he said. A bag containing a box of ‘kesari’ was also left undisturbed.
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