A youth was murdered in a clash that broke out between two groups during New Year celebrations, near Periyakulam in Theni district, in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The police said that a group of youths were riding two bikes from Jeyamangalam village to Periyakulam, when they were intercepted by another group of youths in Melmangalam village, around 1.30 a.m.
“They had allegedly consumed alcohol on the roadside and were in an inebriated mood as it was New Year’s eve and a sudden quarrel broke out between the youths that escalated into a fist fight. The men from Jeyamangalam village escaped as more men from Melmangalam gathered, but one youth was caught from behind and was beaten to death,” said a police official from Periyakulam sub-division.
The police identified the deceased as K. Karthi (22) of Gandhi Nagar, Jeyamangalam. The body was recovered and sent for a post-mortem to the government hospital in Periyakulam.
The relatives of the victim and villagers staged a road-roko outside the hospital, refusing to take the body and demanded that the accused be arrested.
“A case has been filed under 302 IPC and further investigations are on. We are yet to identify the accused,” said sources in the police.
“There seem to be no previous enmity or motive. But since the deceased is from the Scheduled Caste community, and the accused allegedly belong to an intermediate caste, the situation is tense. We have deployed a number of police personnel in the area to avoid any further trouble,” said Arumugam, DSP, Periyakulam.
