CHENNAI: A 19-year-old youth was hacked to death in Kodungaiyur on Sunday night, on his birthday, allegedly by his friends in retaliation for a fight the same morning. The police arrested four suspects on Monday.

The deceased was identified as K Sankar. Kodungaiyur police identified the arrested men as Lingesh, Nithin, Stephen Raj, and Vijay. All are from Kodungaiyur.

The police said that the murder took place late Sunday after the victim, K Sankar, a college dropout working as a bike mechanic, got into an argument with his friends over a morning scuffle with Stephen Raj during a football game.

According to the police, on Sunday night, while Sankar was celebrating his birthday with a gang of his friends, Stephen Raj and the other suspects surrounded him and started an argument.

During the heated exchange of words, one suspect pulled out a hidden sickle and attacked Sankar. Though Sankar tried to run through Kailasam Street, they chased him down and assaulted him, the police said.

Passersby alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and recovered the body. The police sent the body to the Government Hospital for post-mortem examination.

A case was registered, and the four suspects were arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Monday.