E.P. Ganesan
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The death of a government school lab assistant due to a suspected snakebite near Tiruttani has turned out to be a murder committed for an insurance claim, a police investigation has revealed. Police found that the victim’s sons killed him by orchestrating a snake bite to claim insurance money.
On October 22, the police in Pothatturpettai Police Station received information about the death of E.P. Ganesan, 56, due to an alleged snake bite at Pothatturpettai village in Tiruttani Sub-Division. Accordingly, a case was registered for unnatural death on a complaint of his son G. Mohanraj, 29, and an investigation was taken up. At the initial stage, the incident was made to appear as an accidental snake bite death, investigators said.
An insurance company filed a complaint with the Inspector General of Police, North Zone Asra Garg quoting suspicion on the bonafide of the claims made by family members of the deceased. The family made a claim for ₹ 3 crore. A special investigation team led by C. Jaishree, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Gummidipoondi Sub-Division, comprising two inspectors, two sub-inspectors, and other police personnel in Tiruvallur district was formed.
Mr. Garg said detailed verification further revealed that the family had availed multiple loans. Further, the family had also subscribed to several high value insurance policies. The disproportionate level of liabilities and multiple insurance coverages, when compared with known sources of income of the family, raised grave suspicion regarding the actual cause of death. The investigation finally revealed that the two sons of the deceased, Mohanraj and Hariharan, had planned to murder their father with the motive of claiming insurance proceeds, said Mr. Garg.
Hariharan, son of E.P. Ganesan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Mohanraj, son of E.P. Ganesan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The police said in furtherance of this conspiracy, they approached G. Balaji, 28, B. Prasanth, 35, of Manavur, S. Dinakaran, 43, of Mosur village and G. Naveenkumar, 28, of Manavur who facilitated the offence by arranging for a snake and creating an accidental snake bite incident. It was further brought out during investigation that an earlier attempt had been made approximately one week prior, by arranging for a snake through Dinakaran, which was made to bite the leg of the deceased; however, this attempt did not result in the death of the deceased.
Tiruvallur Superintendent of Police Vivekanand Shukla said that investigation revealed that subsequently, in the early hours of the day of the occurrence, a Krait snake deliberately brought to the house and was made to bite the deceased on the neck. After the snake bite, Balaji and Prashanth killed the snake inside the house, with the intention of creating a false impression of an accidental snake bite and eliminating any further risk of exposure.
The six accused namely Hariharan, Mohanraj, Balaji, Prashanth, Naveenkumar, and Dinakaran have been arrested. Further investigation is in progress.
Mr. Shukla said the special investigation team’s focused application of scientific, technical, and field-level investigation uncovered the true nature of the crime
Published – December 19, 2025 10:28 pm IST
