Three persons, including a domestic worker, have been arrested in connection with the murder of an 80-year-old woman who was living alone in an apartment on T. Nagar’s Kuppusamy Street.The deceased was identified as Radha. On Thursday, her son Ramji Yadav, who lives in Besant Nagar, took her to a dental hospital for treatment and later dropped her back home. The police said that Vijay Adhiraj, who lives in the apartment above Radha’s house, contacted Ramji Yadav on Friday morning and informed him that his mother’s house was locked and that there was no response despite ringing the doorbell and calling her over the mobile phone.Ramji immediately went to his mother’s house and opened it using a spare key. He found Radha lying dead with injuries and bleeding from her nose. He also noticed that her gold chain, gold bangle, diamond earrings, gold ring, silver articles, and cash were missing. Based on his complaint, the Pondy Bazaar Police registered a case, recovered the body, and sent it for post-mortem examination.The investigation revealed that Radha had been living alone. The police found that a woman, identified as Menaka alias Ammu, was working at Radha’s house as domestic help for the past five months.During questioning, Menaka allegedly confessed that she planned to steal Radha’s jewellery with two male acquaintances, Mouli alias Chandramouli and Manikandan.Police said, the three went to Radha’s house on Thursday evening , strangled her to death and escaped with the gold jewellery she was wearing. The gang also stole silver articles kept in the house and ₹2,000 in cash.The police subsequently arrested Menaka, 36, of Vinayagapuram, MMDA Colony, Arumbakkam; Mouli alias Chandramouli, 26, of Teynampet; and Manikandan, 24, of Teynampet.The police recovered around eight sovereigns of gold jewellery, including a gold chain, bangle and ring, a pair of diamond earrings, silver articles, ₹2,000 in cash and the two-wheeler allegedly used in the crime. The police also found that Mouli alias Chandramouli had two previous criminal cases against him.The three accused were produced before a court on Saturday and remanded in judicial custody. Published - August 15, 2026 06:54 pm IST