CHENNAI: An argument over drunk driving escalated into full-blown violence between two groups, including hurling petrol bombs, in Pallikaranai on Monday night.
The police said two people sustained serious injuries in the fight, adding that they were searching for the rival gang.
The incident was triggered when Hari Prasad (31), a history sheeter from Bhavani Amman Koil Street in Pallikaranai, was returning home on his bike. The police said he was riding the vehicle in a drunken state and almost hit two men, Joshua and Praveen, from the same locality. This led to a heated argument, which later turned into a physical fight.
On Monday morning, Hari Prasad's mother, Palaniammal, went to Joshua's house to question him for fighting with her son. This made Joshua and his friends angry. Later in the night, Joshua and his friends, Praveen, Shyam, Aravind, Prasanna, and Siva, went to Hari Prasad's house. Officials said they threw three petrol bombs at the house.
Hearing the noise, Hari Prasad and his friend Deepak (28) came out of the house. Soon, a fight broke out again between the two groups, during which they attacked each other with weapons. Hari Prasad and Deepak were seriously injured in the clash.
Meanwhile, hearing the explosion and the fight, the neighbours alerted the police who rushed to the spot. However, before the police team reached there, Joshua's gang managed to flee. The police then took the injured men to a private hospital nearby.
A case has been registered, and Pallikaranai police are searching for Joshua and his friends, who are absconding.