The recent murder of a prisoner named S. Sabari Varman inside the Nagercoil jail has sent shockwaves across Tamil Nadu. For people of a certain vintage in the area, though, this killing has revived memories of another horrific murder that took place inside the exact same prison back in 1996.

During the 1980s, a man from the Kanyakumari district, who excelled as a kabaddi player, later became implicated in several murder cases and was imprisoned. While he was lodged in the Nagercoil District Sub-Jail, a gang of over 30 people broke into the prison from the outside and murdered him. He was decapitated, and his head was dumped at the Meenachipuram bus stand, located a few kilometres away.

A news report published in The Hindu on April 10, 1996, describes what transpired during this gruesome incident. The inmate, identified as Lingam, had been lodged in the Nagercoil Sub-Jail since 1995 in connection with three murder cases and an assault on a police constable.

What happened on April 9, 1996?

On the morning of April 9, 1996, at around 3.00 a.m., a gang arrived in a van near the perimeter of the Nagercoil Sub-Jail. Using a ladder, the gang members scaled the prison’s 15-foot outer wall and jumped inside. Mr. Ponnambalam, a prison warden on duty, was brutally assaulted. The intruders smashed the glass box where the prison keys were kept, seized them, and rushed toward the cells.

The prison was severely understaffed; it had a total strength of only eight personnel, including the prison superintendent, and only two guards were on duty when the attack occurred. The other guard on duty, Sudalai, was also severely beaten. At the time, 84 inmates, including eight women, were housed in the facility.

The invading gang consisted of 36 members. Seven of them carried country-made guns and a .315 rifle, while the others were armed with knives and sickles.

After cutting the telephone lines, they reached Cell Number 8, where Lingam and eight other inmates were locked up. Flashing torches to identify Lingam, the attackers decapitated him inside the cell. Four other inmates were stabbed during the commotion; one of them, Babu Suresh, later succumbed to his injuries.

Before leaving, the gang fired shots into the air using the rifle, scaled the wall using the same ladder, and fled with Lingam’s head. The entire operation was carried out in less than 20 minutes.

Although the gang carefully carried the ladder back with them, they left behind a pistol, a cartridge, and a knife at the scene. Lingam’s head was later recovered near the Anna Bus Stand in Meenachipuram (The Hindu, April 10, 1996).

As the incident shook the entire town, Prison Superintendent Mr. Joseph Gunamani, along with wardens Mr. Ponnambalam and Mr. Sudalai, were placed under suspension.

Previous enmity

The investigation revealed the motive behind the crime. A long-standing enmity existed between the deceased, Muthulingam alias Lingam, and a man named Gunaseelan from Agastheeswaram. Both factions had been executing retaliatory killings. When Lingam was remanded to the Nagercoil Sub-Jail in 1996 for a murder case, Gunaseelan’s faction decided to eliminate him inside the prison itself. The prosecution stated in court that Gunaseelan and another associate named Mohan were the ones who actually decapitated Lingam.

A chargesheet was filed against 24 individuals in connection with the case. The trial court sentenced two individuals to double life imprisonment and five others to life imprisonment, while a few received lesser sentences.

Acquittal by Madras HC

However, the accused appealed their convictions. Upon hearing the appeal, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court acquitted all 11 convicted individuals, stating that the prosecution had failed to properly prove the charges against them.

Manathi Ganesan, a former kabaddi player and Arjuna Awardee whose story inspired Mari Selvaraj’s Bison Kaalamaadan, recalls Lingam as a formidable player with an aggressive temperament. Mr. Ganesan played against Lingam in his early days.

“Initially, Lingam was focused on bodybuilding. Later, he took up kabaddi and played for a club in Udangudi. He then moved on to play for a paper mill team. It was during this period that friction began developing between him and a man named Prabhu,” recalls Mr. Ganesan.

Web series on Lingam

With a web series named Lingam based on Lingam’s life having been released recently on an OTT platform, the occurrence of another murder in the exact same prison adds a grim layer to the situation. “It is shocking that a murder like this has occurred just when the web series was released. It creates a worry that people might try to link the incident to the series. It even makes me question whether one should direct such stories in the future,” says Lakshmi Saravanakumar, director of the series Lingam.

However, he clarifies that he did not choose this story simply because the protagonist was a gangster killed in prison. “Every gangster has a backstory. But what drew me to Lingam’s story was that he was an exceptional kabaddi player. He was actively playing kabaddi right up until he went to jail in 1995. That contrast is what fascinated me. He grabbed attention while he lived, and his death was equally high-profile. That is why I took up this project,” Lakshmi Saravanakumar adds.

At the time of his death, Lingam was survived by his wife and two children. Many years later, a man named Sahayam, who was listed as the seventh accused in Lingam’s murder case, was also murdered. Lingam’s son, Sujith, was implicated in this crime. A report published in The Hindu dated June 26, 2013, noted: “Sahayam extended support to Sujith, the son of Lingam. But police suspect that due to some misunderstanding between Sahayam and Sujith, the latter might have murdered him along with his associates.”

There was another development in the case, over 27 years later. The police cited 36 persons as accused in the Lingam murder case, including one Selvam of Kamarajapuram. While 35 of them were arrested, Selvam absconded and remained on the run. After evading arrest for 27 years, Selvam was finally nabbed while in Chennai by a police special team on October 18, 2023.

Published - July 22, 2026 05:00 pm IST