A pharmacist was murdered by a two-member gang for refusing to pay protection money (mamool) in Perambalur on Tuesday.
According to police sources, P. Ezhuthani alias Prabakaran (29) and Ragu alias Ragunath (23) of Ladapuram had demanded protection money from M. Nagarajan (44), who was running a medical shop in the same area. Both of them were said to have collected money from him on many occasions. But Nagarajan refused to pay money on Tuesday and narrated his ordeal to their parents. Angered over it, Prabakaran and Ragunath took him to a secluded place and beat him up. Upon knowing this, the family members of Nagarajan rushed him to a hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead.
The Perambalur police have registered a murder case against Prabakaran and Ragunath.
