CHENNAI: Less than 24 hours after Tasmac shops reopened in Chennai, two men were allegedly killed in the city in drunken brawls.
In Neelankarai, an auto driver was hacked to death by his friends after a quarrel broke out among them while playing cards under the influence of alcohol, police said. The victim was identified as Ramki, a 33-year-old resident of Injambakkam.
According to the police, Ramki and his friends Siva, Balaji and Suresh of Vettuvankani along with a few others consumed liquor together when the shops reopened after nearly a month. But an argument erupted when they were playing cards.
“In the melee, Ramki allegedly beat Siva after which the latter and others attacked Ramki with a knife and fled the spot. Ramki's relatives rushed him to the government hospital where he died on Tuesday morning without responding to treatment,” said a police officer.
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Balaji, Siva and Suresh were arrested by the Neelankarai police. All three were remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday.
In another incident, 24-year-old Prasanth, from Uzhaipalar Nagar near Pattabiram, was beaten to death in a drunken brawl between two groups of youngsters in the locality on Monday evening.
The deceased is said to have a few police cases pending against him and the incident happened around 4.30 pm when he was consuming liquor with a group of friends in the locality.
“An argument broke out between them and another gang who were also under the influence of alcohol and they started attacking Prasanth and his friends. While his friends fled the spot, the gang chased Prasanth to Gandhi Street and attacked him with bricks. Prasanth swooned and died on the spot after which the gang fled the spot,” said a police officer.
Pattabiram police retrieved his body and sent it for an autopsy. A case has been registered and five people were arrested on Tuesday by Pattabiram police. The accused were identified as Ajith alias H Manikandan (25), H Mukesh (22), P Sai Aditya (21), P Vinoth (37) and V Julee (25).