CHENNAI: A 37-year-old man was beaten to death allegedly by a group of five persons over a dispute over a demand for Rs 6 lakh to settle assault case in which the deceased was a witness, at Nerkundram in Chennai on Thursday night.

Interestingly, one of the suspects themselves called the police and informed them about the murder, after which three of them were arrested while a search is on for the other two.

The deceased was identified as A Sathish of Perumal Kovil Street in Nerkundram, a man facing several cases and was a witness in an assault case in 2022 in which the accused were involved. The accused had also attacked Sathish in 2022, following which a case was registered. The case is pending before the Second Additional Sessions Court.

According to the police, Sathish allegedly demanded Rs 6 lakh from the accused to settle the case. On Thursday night, they went to his house to discuss the issue, where an argument broke out between them.

Officials said Dinesh alias Manda Dinesh (22), Suresh alias Pettai Suresh (21), Surya (22), Vignesh alias Madavikki (21), and another person identified as Aakash attacked Sathish with wooden logs and stones, leaving him dead.

Dinesh contacted the Koyambedu deputy commissioner's special team to inform about the murder. A police team later picked up Dinesh, Suresh, and Surya, and are searching for Vignesh and Aakash.

Police records show that the deceased and several of the suspects have previous criminal cases registered against them, including those involving murder, robbery, assault, and offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.