CHENNAI: A 19-year-old daily wage labourer was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly murdering a 50-year-old man with whom he was consuming alcohol the previous night behind Presidency College. The identity of the deceased has not yet been ascertained.
Police said the suspect, J Karthik of Pudukkotai district, used to work as a labourer on Marina Beach. On Tuesday night, he gave money to a man to buy some liquor for him. Sometime later, both men sat down to booze at a desolate spot in the locality.
After a few rounds, Karthik asked the man to return the cash that was left after buying the alcohol. When he refused to hand over the balance, the 19-year-old allegedly smashed his head with a big stone and fled the scene.
After some time, local residents informed police that a man was lying motionless in the area with blood oozing out from his head. Police recovered the body and sent it to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for postmortem.