Man Arrested For Allegedly Killing Three Men With Cyanide-Laced Alcohol

A 62-year-old man in India has been arrested for allegedly killing three men by giving them cyanide-laced alcohol.

Police arrested N Rajasekar on Monday in connection to the death of Muruganandam, 57, and his two friends S Sakthivel, 61, and M Parthiban, 35, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. According to the police, the three victims allegedly drank the liquor in an abandoned old house in their neighborhood.

"They left for their houses on foot after 6:30 p.m. Sakthivel and Muruganandam collapsed near a grocery shop. Sakthivel’s relatives took him to his home and alerted the 108-ambulance service. An emergency medical technician of the ambulance service declared him dead. Muruganandam was rushed to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), where doctors declared him brought dead. Parthiban was found dead in his house," a police officer said to the Times of India.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect was having an affair with a woman whom Muruganandam was also pursuing. Rajasekar reportedly planned to remove Muruganandam from the love triangle by killing him.

Rajasekar gave Muruganandam a whiskey bottle mixed with cyanide as a gift on Nov. 4. The next day, Muruganandam shared the liquor with his two friends. The trio fainted and died after consuming the alcohol.

"During further investigation, we found out that Rajasekar gave the trio liquor mixed with cyanide. Though Rajasekar had personal enmity with Muruganandam and targeted him, the latter’s two friends also became victims of the plot," Assistant Commissioners of Police R. Vincent said to The Hindu.

The bodies were sent for an autopsy and the liquor bottle was sent to a forensic laboratory. Later, the lab results found the presence of cyanide in the bottle.

Police reviewed CCTV footage before the poisoning incident and found Rajasekar and Muruganandam walking together, Times Now reported.

Rajasekar confessed to the crime after his arrest. He has been charged with murder and remanded in judicial custody.

Last month, a man in India was arrested for murdering his 6-year-old daughter and wife by feeding them poison-laced ice cream and then strangling them. The suspect allegedly killed his family because he wanted to move in with the woman he was having an affair with.