Chennai: 5 held for murder of tippler neighbour

CHENNAI: Five persons, including a 44-year-old woman, were arrested on murder charges by the Periamet police on Saturday after the man they ganged up and attacked with weapons succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

The deceased, G Premkumar (26) of Stringer Street, had knocked on the door of his neighbour, Sumathi, on Thursday and demanded liquor. Sumathi answered in the negative, to which Premkumar went on a tirade and abused her. Sumathi informed her son and son-in-law about the incident, after which the men, along with their friends, rounded up and bundled Premkumar in an autorickshaw and attacked him with weapons.

The severely injured man was undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), where he succumbed. The Periamet police who had registered an attempt to murder case against the attackers altered the section to murder and arrested five persons, Sumathi (44), her son, Dheena (22), Sumathi's son-in-law, Vijaya Narayanan (35) and their accomplices - Jeeva (33) and Kannadasan (22). All the accused are from Periamet.

The arrested persons were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.