TIRUCHY: Tiruchy police on Friday registered a case against as many as 11 persons from two different groups who engaged in a verbal duel when one group was illegally felling trees on the banks of the Kollidam River.

Police said a gang of four who were identified as B Krishnan, V Arumugam, M Gunasekaran, and Chandru from Anjaneyar Kovil Street in Melur in Srirangam were felling trees along the banks of the Kollidam river for selling them.

On seeing this, a group of seven persons from the same place identified as K Sundarajan, the village head, T Kumaresan, T Dinesh Kumar, N Mani, V Gnanasekar, S Vijayakumar, and R Viji tried to stop Krishnan and the gang from cutting the trees. An argument ensued between the two groups and snowballed into an assault. Sundarajan, the village head passed on the information to the Srirangam police who registered a case against Krishnan and his associates. A separate case was registered against seven persons including Sundarajan.