Dharmapuri: A businessman in Dharmapuri district murdered his wife and daughter and later died by deliberately colliding his two-wheeler with a truck near Puravadai on the Dharmapuri–Krishnagiri–Salem National Highway, on Tuesday.The deceased was identified as Santosh, 45, son of Chinnasamy from Annasagaram. He was engaged in trading and real estate business. He lived with his family in an apartment in Kottai Koil in Dharmapuri.“Santosh strangled his wife Saranya, 35, and then murdered his daughter Sathiya, 14, with a weighing stone inside their residence. He then left the house on his two-wheeler, rode towards the national highway and deliberately collided with a truck near Puravadai, dying on the spot,” said DSP Sivaraman. Athiyamankottai police recovered the body and sent it to the government hospital for a postmortem.Meanwhile, town police personnel found the bodies of his wife and daughter when they visited the house to inform his family of the fatal accident. They then removed the bodies and sent them to Dharmapuri Government Medical College and Hospital for postmortem.Preliminary investigation revealed that Santosh was under severe stress due to mounting debts and business losses. However, police are probing whether debt pressure alone led to the murders and suicide, or if other factors were involved. .Dharmapuri town police have registered a case and initiated an inquiry.
