The Munambam police have arrested six persons in connection with a drunken brawl between two groups that led to the death of a person and injuries to another four at the Kuzhippilly beach near Vypeen on Tuesday night.
The deceased was identified as Gajendra Kumar, 35, of Trichy in Tamil Nadu. He was stabbed in the stomach and died of injuries at a city hospital where he was rushed to around 1.15 a.m.
The arrested were identified as Subin, 24, Vishnu, 25, Adarsh, 21, all natives of Kuzhippilly; Shyam Sri, 25, of North Paravur; and, Ashkar, 24, and Najmal, 25, of Edavanakkad. Sarun, 25, of Kuzhippilly, remains to be arrested.
It was Subin who stabbed the victim, the police said. Vineeth Nair, 28; Divine, 33; and Sabu S. Das remain admitted in hospital. Divine has undergone a surgery.
The victim was part of an 11-member group comprising the managing director and 10 staff members from a company engaged in supplying food at the Kochi airport, who were out visiting beaches in Cherai and Kuzhupilly.
They arrived at the Cherai beach around 5.30 p.m. and played volleyball till 8 p.m. Thereafter, they moved to the Kuzhupilly beach where they started playing football under the high-mast light. A couple of residents protested as the game progressed late into the night.
“A heated exchange ensued followed by a minor scuffle. The visitors had numerical advantage and the local residents retreated. However, they returned after gathering more people and attacked the visitors around 10.30 p.m. Both the groups were in an inebriated state, except for one person,” said T.V. Shibhu, sub inspector, Munambam.
The fight lasted 10-15 minutes during the course of which Gajendra suffered a stab in the stomach and the other four sustained wounds on their back. They were initially rushed to a hospital at Kuzhupilly before being taken to the hospital in the city.
The police started the crackdown from 2.30 a.m. and had all the accused in custody by 8 a.m. Forensic experts and the dog squad examined the site.
J. Himendranath, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Kochi City), who holds the additional charge of Rural Police Chief; N.R. Jayaraj, DySP, Aluva; and A. Anil Kumar, Inspector, North Paravur, inspected the crime scene. A special investigation team headed by Mr. Anil Kumar has been formed to probe the case.
