From correspondents in Tamil Nadu, India, 06:33 AM IST

A woman was remanded to judicial custody Monday for allegedly masterminding the murder of her relative, Vijay Kumar, a kin of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M.G. Ramachandran, the police said.

'Sustained investigation revealed that Bhanumati, Vijay Kumar's sister-in-law, enlisted the services of a police constable, Karuna, 39, who in turn hired other mercenaries who killed the deceased on June 4. The motive was a dispute over control on property left behind by the late chief minister,' Archana Ramasundaram, additional director general of police, told reporters.

Others sent to the high-security Puzhal prison along with Bhanumati and Karuna were Suresh, 23, Karthick, 26, Solomon, 21, and Deena, 23, according to police.

Bangalore-based Bhanumati R. Sridhar is the sister of Kumar's widow Sudha. Kumar antagonised his wife's siblings while seizing control over a school founded by the late MGR - later converted into a trust property, the police added.

Vijay Kumar, 53, was brutally killed in a posh southern suburb here.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)