Two brothers climbed atop a mobile phone tower at Cooperative Nagar here on Monday with a demand that police should settle their family dispute and not file case against them. They refused to climb down and tested the patience of police officers.
Two Deputy Superintendents of Police and many police personnel, including Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors, conducted negotiations for four hours. But they refused to climb down the tower. At last, Superintendent of Police A. Saravanan, who arrived at the spot, made them come down.
M. Varadharajan and his brother M. Muthu Karuppu climbed the tower with petrol, fearing that the police would register a case against them in connection with the mysterious death of M. Chinnaponnu, wife of their eldest brother M. Muthukumar.
The police had summoned Muthukumar and his father Muthu Raj for investigation. The younger brothers suspected that the police would summon them also and climbed on the tower, threatening that they would commit suicide.
Initially, they wanted assurance from police that no action would be taken against them. The police agreed to it. But they also insisted that their father and brother should come to the spot. The police brought the two from Sempatti police station, along with their mother M. Vallaiyammal.
They asked their father to share the property. When Fire Service and Rescue Services personnel tried to climb the tower to rescue them, the two poured kerosene on themselves. When one brother tried to come down, the other man prevented him.
After a four-hour ordeal, they climbed down from the tower.
The police arrested them and registered a case.