The Coimbatore District Police arrested three persons for allegedly murdering a man and brutally attacking two others in a drunken brawl near a canal at Anamalai when they were celebrating Deepavali on Tuesday evening. The deceased was identified as S. Muruganandham alias Murugan (27), of Anamalai.
Murugan’s younger brother Manikandan, a Youth Brigade personnel at Pollachi East Police Station, and friend K. Narayanan (21), a tender coconut businessman, suffered injuries on their heads and were getting treated at hospitals at Anamalai and Pollachi. Their condition was stable, the police said.
Inspector M. Vivekanandhan said that the victims had gone to Azhukku Samiyar Temple at Ondivelanthurai Upparu Bridge, near Anamalai, for a bath in the late hours of Tuesday. The accused K. Boopalan (21) and his two friends M. Sabarinathan (20) and L. Praveen Kumar (22) of Vettaikaranpudur came there at the same time.
It is learnt that the two groups were consuming alcohol separately. “Boopalan’s bike fell when one of the three victims sat on it in an inebriated condition. This resulted in a quarrel between the two groups and they attacked each other with stones and wooden logs,” the inspector said.
Murugan died on the spot due to a cut on his neck and injuries on his head.
Boopalan and Sabarinathan were secured on Tuesday and Praveen on Wednesday. The trio were booked under sections 302 (punishment for murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 294(B) (using abusive language) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code.
Praveen was lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison under judicial custody. The two others were lodged in the Borstal School for convicts and under trials aged between 18 and 21 years.
