COIMBATORE: Tension gripped the Gopalapuram area situated in the middle of the city after a 24-year-old youth was hacked to death by an unknown gang in full view of the public near the Coimbatore Combined Court campus on Monday afternoon.
The incident took place in broad daylight, a few meters away from the back entrance of the court campus when the youth was on his way to appear for the hearing in a murder case.
The deceased was identified as G Gokul (24) a resident of Kondayampalayam near Annur district. He along with his friend Manoj were standing in front of a tea shop around 11.30 am when a gang of four wearing masks approached them on second street in Gopalapuram. Manoj hails from Sivananda colony in the city.
In a fraction of a second, they hacked Gokul with a machete. Receiving a sharp cut on his neck, Gokul fell into the pool of blood and died on the spot. Manoj, who tried to save Gokul, rushed towards the gang on first street in Gopalapuram. They tried to hack him as well but he escaped, fortunately. Manoj who sustained cut injuries on his head was admitted to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for treatment. The dead body of the deceased was also taken to the hospital for postmortem.
In a video recorded by the public, the four-member gang was seen walking away through State Bank road, one of the busiest places in the city, where both the Commissionerate of police and the district collector's office are situated. The video of the incident went viral on social media.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that the deceased who resided in the Kannappa Nagar area near Rathinapuri a few years ago, had a dispute with another gang over the issue of area domination between Rathinapuri and Kannappa Nagar.
According to the police, Gokul was part of a gang that had killed a youth V. Sriram alias Kurangu Sriram (22) in December 2021. Sriram was killed by the rival gang over the issue of area dominance. Gokul was one among the gang arrested in connection with the murder who later got bail and walked out of prison. But as he failed to appear for a case hearing, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him. So he came to court for appearing in the hearing. However, he was murdered near the court campus before that.
This is the second brutal murder that has occurred in the city within the last two days. Previously, a 30-year-old man was hacked and shot dead near Nava India in the city in public view on Sunday evening.
Coimbatore city police have formed five special teams to arrest the suspects. Meanwhile, on Monday, former Chief Minister and AIADMK interim General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and BJP State president K Annamalai condemned these murders, blaming the police for their failure to prevent such atrocities.