Woman hacked to death by two posing as policemen

 The house in Gerugambakkam from which a woman was abducted and murdered on Tuesday morning. Photo: A. Muralitharan A 39-year-old homemaker was allegedly kidnapped from her residence in Gerugambakkam, near Porur, in the wee hours of Tuesday and hacked to death by two unidentified persons who posed as policemen.

Police sources said the victim, Ambika, lived in Akash Nagar with her husband Ravi (40) and two sons – Bhagya (16) and Aravind (14). Ravi, who worked as a manager in a restaurant in Parry's, usually returned home only after midnight.

Around 1.30 a.m. on Tuesday, while he was on his way home on a moped, Ravi noticed two men standing at a bend that led to his street. They were attired in police uniform.

Ravi was stopped by the two men, who started enquiring about Ambika. The two claimed that there were some irregularities in the functioning of a Self Help Group that Ambika presided over and she was wanted for questioning.

Ravi told them that he was Ambika's husband and took them home. What happened next is unclear, but sources in the Crime Wing of the Mangadu police say that when Ravi went into the kitchen to prepare coffee, Ambika was abducted.

During interrogation, Ravi said that the two men claimed to be policemen from the High Court police station and just before he went into the kitchen, they told Ambika: “The inspector is waiting to question you at the street corner. Come with us.”

When Ravi came out of the kitchen, the two men and his wife were missing and he frantically started searching for Ambika. She was later found with her throat slit, just 100 feet away from the house. Since there were no streetlights, the men were untraceable. The Mangadu police have registered a case under Section 302 (Punishment for murder) of the IPC. A special team has been formed to investigate.