TIRUCHY: Eleven people, including three minors, were arrested on Saturday night in connection with the murder of a DMK councillor near Navalpattu in Tiruchy. The arrested were identified as M Madhan (25), K Bhuavaneswaran (25), R Hariharan (19), R Nagaraj (27), R Sanjay (23), S Rex Lawrence (22), R Suresh (19) and P Suren Kumar (32), and three minor boys on charges of murdering a DMK councillor from Koothapar town panchayat councilor, A Ranjithkumar (42) from Bharathipuram village.
According to the police, Ranjithkumar recently built a house in Solamadevi village and also ran a bar attached to a TASMAC outlet in Thiruverumbur. On March 30, he was waylaid and hacked to death by a gang while returning home on his two-wheeler. Following this, the Navalpattu police registered a case. A special team was formed by Tiruchy SP S Selvanagarathinam to nab the suspects.
On April 2, the police intercepted a suspicious two-wheeler near Cauvery Nagar and caught Madhan and Bhuvaneswara and inquired with them. The probe revealed that the murder was masterminded by history-sheeter J Dinesh Kumar, Bottle Mani (35) from Thiruverumbur, who is now in Salem Central Prison. There was prior enmity between Dinesh Kumar and Ranjithkumar over money and control over turf.