CHENNAI: Three persons were arrested on attempt to murder charges by the Royapuram police after they attacked a duo with weapons and caused serious injuries over a financial deal that went sour.

One of the arrested men is the brother of the employer of the two victims, who were attacked as they failed to repay the cash they allegedly stole from the shop.

The arrested persons were identified as M Javith (27), K Kesavan (23), and D Jagadesan alias Jaga (24). Javith's brother runs a private company in Royapuram where the two injured men, B Napoleon (30) and Junaid Abbas, were employed, said the police.

According to police sources, Junaid swindled Rs 14 lakhs from the company a few months ago by fudging the account books and told his co-worker, Napoleon, that he stole the money because of his financial condition and shared Rs 2 lakhs with him.

When their employer found money missing, he zeroed in on the duo and gave them three months to repay the stolen money. On Friday, Javith called Napoleon to come to a spot to talk about the missing money. When Napoleon and Junaid reached the scene, Javith and his associates attacked them with knives and weapons and fled the scene.

The injured were admitted to a hospital. Based on a complaint, Royapuram police arrested the trio on attempt to murder charges.