Sacked employees kill boss

CHENNAI: A 55-year-old in-charge of a catering service at the airport was murdered on Friday at his house in Pallavaram by two employees whom he had sacked. The two were caught by the man’s neighbours as they attempted to escape the scene of the crime and handed over to the police. Police said cash of Rs 16.4 lakh belonging to the deceased was recovered from the accused. Nesakumar (25) and Balasubramaniam (29) of Vellore, who were sacked from their jobs following differences with Pratap Singh (55) who was in charge of three catering service stalls at the Chennai airport, stabbed him on the throat, police said. They had on Friday approached Pratap seeking to get their jobs back, but it led to an altercation, at the end of which Pratap ended up dead. The catering service is owned by Pratap’s brother-in-law Vikram who lives in New Delhi, police said.Pratap had been living on the ground floor of a rented house at Mallikha Nagar, Pallavaram for over four years, along with two others. Another tenant named Melvin, a BPO employee, lives with his family on the first floor of the house.Melvin’s wife heard a strange noise from the ground floor house on Friday and informed her husband, police sources said. Melvin then went down and knocked at the door of Pratap’s house but got no response. Suspecting something amiss, he called a beat constable Anandraj over the phone, as he had his contact number. Meanwhile, two strangers walked out of Pratap’s house with bags in their hand, police said, and added that Melvin overpowered one of them and pushed him down. Neighbours gathered soon, having heard the commotion, and caught the other person. They had attempted to escape with Rs 16.4 lakh belonging to Pratap, which he had kept in his house. The cash was recovered intact.