CHENNAI: A 25-year-old man was killed after a gang of three flung a country bomb at him at Perambakkam near Mappedu in Tiruvallur on Wednesday night. The gang also attacked him with sickles to make sure he was dead, according to the police.
The victim was identified as Mukesh, who works as a LPG cylinder delivery agent. His friends, Deepan and Javid, who were chatting with him at the spot, were also injured in the attack and are currently undergoing treatment at a government hospital.
According to police sources, the gang hurled two country bombs at the trio, one of which exploded and killed Mukesh on the spot. He was rushed to the Tiruvallur government hospital, but was declared dead. The accused escaped from the spot on two-wheelers.
ADSP G Harikumar and Tiruvallur SP R Srinivasa Perumal reached the spot and took stock of the situation with Mappedu police personnel. Sources said the crime was owing to enmity between two groups of youngsters in the locality, one led by Mukesh and another by his ‘friend-turned-foe’ Akash, who is also of the same age.
Akash is the prime suspect in the case, police sources said, adding that he is a college dropout involved in petty offences.
The immediate trigger for this crime is believed to be an attack on Akash by Mukesh and his friends, in which the former lost his ear. Though the police had rounded up the accused and presented them before a magistrate court, they were let off with a warning, sources said.