In a gruesome reprisal attack, a mason, Suseendran (31) of Pethaniapuram, was killed by an armed gang at Sammatipuram here on Wednesday.
On seeing the grave crime, shopkeepers in the vicinity downed shutters and an uneasy calm prevailed in the area for about an hour.
Preliminary investigations suggested that Suseendran’s brother Nagendran had figured in an assault case on Tuesday, in which a youth, identified as Parthasarathy (24) of Sammatipuram, suffered multiple injuries. Parthasarathy was in a serious condition.
Police said that a few months ago, Parthasarathy, a welder, had approached his friend Sarathkumar (23), a financier, seeking loan. However, Sarathkumar, who along with his friends was in an inebriated mood, belittled Parthasarathy.
This angered Parthasarathy. Since then, they indulged in frequent quarrels and sometimes wordy altercations snowballed into fisticuffs. On Tuesday, a group had attacked Parthasarathy when he was walking to his home alone. He was admitted to hospital in a serious condition.
In a fit of anger, friends of Parthasarathy identified Suseendran, whose brother Nagendran had attacked Parthasarathy. When the six-member gang spotted him, Suseendran tried to escape from it, but he was chased and assaulted, following which he died.
The murder in a thickly populated locality in broad daylight came as a rude shock to the residents. Police pickets have been deployed. S.S. Colony police have picked up a few suspects and registered a case of murder.
A senior police officer said that they had seized a mobile phone from the scene of crime and were confident of securing all the accused soon.
