Gang murders painter in Perungudi

A painter was murdered allegedly by a gang and his body was found dumped near the railway track in Perungudi early on Thursday.

According to police sources, M. Ramu (22) of Kalkuttai in Sempon Nagar participated in a function near his house on Wednesday night where a heated argument ensued between him and three of his friends. Later, he returned home and informed his wife Mahalakshmi (19) about the quarrel.

Around 3 a.m. on Thursday, Ramu's friends took him out on the pretext of some important discussion. Around 6 a.m., passers-by noticed his body with bleeding injuries near the railway track and alerted the police.

“We suspect the involvement of Ramu's friends in the case. The victim's wife says the persons who came home in the early hours of Thursday and asked her husband to accompany them were familiar. Three special teams have been formed to apprehend the accused,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Adyar) V. Sithanan said.

The body was shifted to the Government Royapettah Hospital. Besides some stab wounds, police found a grievous injury on the victim's head. Based on an input, police teams have gone to Puducherry and Villuppuram in search of the accused.

The Thoraipakkam police have registered a case.

Fisherman killed

In another case, a fisherman was allegedly clubbed to death at Kasimedu on Wednesday night.

Police said Vijay Kumar (55) of Kasipuram was angered over frequent theft of fuel from his fishing boat anchored along the shores in Kasimedu.

He suspected the involvement of one Mukesh (29), a fisherman, in the thefts. On Wednesday night, when Kumar was near his boat, Mukesh came that way.

Suspecting that he had come to steal fuel, he picked a quarrel.

In the scuffle that followed, Kumar hit Mukesh with a club. The victim succumbed to head injuries. The Fishing Harbour police arrested Kumar. He was produced in a city court and remanded to judicial custody, police said.