COIMBATORE: It was a normal day for Sivakumar, the manager of the private medical college situated in Othakkal Mandapam until a duo walked into his room on Thursday afternoon and offered Rs 800 crore to buy the institution. Sensing something fishy, Sivakumar told them that the college was not up for sale. He took upon himself the task of finding out who was behind the deal and was thrashed black and blue by a gang.
According to police, Selvaraj of Puducherry and Kumar of Dindigul approached Sivakumar, who stays in the college hostel, seeking confirmation if the college was for sale. When Sivakumar replied in the negative, they gave him the number of two people who offered them the proposal and left.
Sivakumar called up the contacts under the pretext of buying the college and fixed a meeting at a place near the JJ Nagar bus stop near Chettipalayam.
Even as Sivakumar and a colleague Vellingiri waited at the spot, V Shankar (49) a retired professor from Cheyyar in Thiruvannamalai and S Ramachandran (54) a businessman Asokapuram in Coimbatore introduced themselves. They told Sivakumar that they were entrusted with the task of selling the college. They further told Sivakumar that they would arrange a meeting with the management if they wished to negotiate about the price.
When Sivakumar revealed his identity, the two allegedly assaulted him and Vellingiri. Later, Sivakumar lodged a complaint with Chettipalayam police who arrested the duo.
They were booked under sections 294 (b)(uttering obscene language), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (i) (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of IPC. Further probe is on.