VELLORE: A second-year college student was beaten to death by his friends in Vellore. His body was dumped and recovered at a locality near the Andhra border.
Danny Valanarasu (19) of Arani in Tiruvannamalai was studying BA Defence Studies at Voorhees College in Vellore. He stayed at a rented house with classmates Kishore Kannan (19) of Arani, Parthasarathy (19) of Puducherry and an 18-year-old from Dharmapuri.
The 18-year-old and Danny went to their respective natives during the Christmas break, and Danny returned to Vellore on January 1.
In the late hours of Thursday, Parthasarathy and Kishore beat Danny to death in their shared room. They later took his body on a bike and dumped it at the foothills near a village called Sithapparai, close to the Andhra border.
Kishore abandoned the bike at the Arani block development office and informed Danny's father Anand, that he had gone out when Danny's family tried to contact him.
Suspicious of the situation, Anand filed a complaint at the Bagayam police station. Following a search, Kishore was detained and questioned. It came to light that the duo had killed Danny, and Parthasarathy was hiding in Puducherry. A special team has been formed to nab him.
The police said Danny was beaten with iron rods and chisels, and strangled. Preliminary inquiry suggests the murder may have been linked to a love affair. Police also said Danny was allegedly intoxicated and unconscious at the time of the murder. Investigations from multiple angles are under way.