Gang wars resurface in Coimbatore: Two hacked to death in public in two days

A 24-year-old man was hacked to death in full view of the public and lawyers near the Combined Court Complex in Gopalapuram, on Monday morning; police suspect this was retaliation for the man’s involvement in a murder in December 2021

Police personnel begin their investigation in Gopalapuram, Coimbatore on February 13, 2023 | Photo Credit: Siva Saravanan S

 

A day after a person accused in a murder case was hacked and shot to death in Coimbatore, a 24-year-old man was hacked to death near the Combined Court Complex in Gopalapuram on Monday morning. 

The deceased has been identified as G. Gokul of Kavundampalayam. Police said he was involved in a murder in 2021. A five-member gang assaulted him with machetes when he had come to the court with his friend Manoj (27), who escaped with a cut on his head, police said. 

The duo was attacked by the gang on the road leading to the back gate of the court complex, even as members of the public and lawyers watched. High tension prevailed on the road as the men chased the victims with weapons and assaulted them. Videos of the assault are being circulated on social media platforms. While four of the assailants walked off with weapons, one man was seen getting away on a motorcycle. 

While Gokul died on the spot, Manoj was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. 

Four suspects walking away after the murder at Gopalapuram in Coimbatore on Monday | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Police sources said that Gokul was one of the accused involved in the murder of a 22-year-old youth near Saravanampatti in Coimbatore in December 2021. Gokul and his accomplices had chased V. Sriram alias ‘Kurangu’ Sriram, a resident of Sampath Street at Rathinapuri, with weapons at Anjugam Nagar near Chinnavedampatti and hacked him to death after chasing him on motorcycles for nearly 5 km. Monday’s murder of Gokul is suspected to be a retaliation by the opposite gang, said the sources. 

Five special trams formed, says CoP

Coimbatore City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan told journalists that five special teams have been tasked to arrest the assailants. 

On Sunday, R. Sathyapandi (31) of Arapalayam in Madurai, a murder case accused who worked for a realtor in Coimbatore, was hacked and shot by a group of men at Uppilipalayam. A group of five men rounded on Sathyapandi near a private college on Nava India Road at Pappanaickenpalayam around 7 p.m. They hacked and shot Sathyapandi as he ran for his life. He succumbed to two shots and multiple cut injuries. 

Sathyapandi was one of the accused in the murder of Hindu Munnani supporter C. Biju (31) at Ram Nagar in the city on September 13, 2020, which was also the result of rivalry between two local gangs in the city. Special teams of police are on the lookout for the five-member gang.