Suraj Attapalli was upset at his dad for drinking too much.
A day after the semi-decomposed body of a 43-year-old man was found hidden inside a wall-like structure on the fourth floor of a temple in Dahisar (East), officials from the crime branch unit XII on Saturday arrested his 21-year-old son on charges of murder.
The police said accused Suraj, son of Dattu Attapalli, was apparently tired of his father’s addiction to alcohol. He has told the police that he was forced to shell out money to bail out his father, who would often get embroiled in debt-related matters.
The crime was discovered after a plumber, who had gone to repair a tap at Vitthal Rakhmai Mandir, noticed fingers sticking out from beneath a tile and foul smell emanating from the place. The temple has its kitchen situated on the fourth floor.
Attapalli, who originally hailed from Andhra Pradesh, was a conservancy worker at the temple in Surendra Nagar area and used to live there with his son Suraj. According to the police, Attapalli was in debt at his native place and was heavily dependent on alcohol. His wife and Suraj, who earned money, had to repay the loan.
“Attapalli’s wife had saved some money and kept it in her bank account. She would refuse to give it to her husband as she knew he would blow it. Attapalli always abused his wife and threatened to kill her over phone, which Suraj did not like,” said assistant commissioner of police Arvind Mahabadi.
On December 30, Attapalli told Suraj that he was going to his native place to take money from his wife. Attapalli told his son that he would kill his mother if she didn’t give me the money. Infuriated at this, Suraj picked up a knife from the kitchen and slit his father’s throat, said the officer.
“But Suraj got scared after looking at the blood on the floor. He immediately wrapped his father’s body in a plastic sheet and buried it in the wall of a trough, meant for washing utensils,” said another officer.
Whenever people asked him about his father, Suraj always replied that he had for some work at other places. Police suspected his involvement as he never filed a missing person complaint. The crime came to light only after a plumber visited the kitchen on Friday.
“Suraj did not confess to the Dahisar police during initial questioning. However, when crime branch officers called him for interrogation, he did not hide the facts and confessed to the crime. Suraj has been arrested on charges of murder” said Mahabadi.
Loans, booze and murder
Suraj was upset that he and his mother had to regularly bail Attapalli out of debt-related matters. He also hated Attapalli for abusing his mother. On December 30, Attapalli told Suraj that he was going to his native place in Andhra Pradesh and would kill his mother if she did not give him money. Infuriated at this, Suraj slit his throat with a kitchen knife.
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