Tamil Nadu: Guest worker from Uttar Pradesh dies a day after assault by house owner-cop, others

CHENNAI: A 24-year-old migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh died under suspicious circumstances in Sriperumbudur, a day after an altercation involving a group of North Indian workers, a grocery shop owner, residents, and their house owner, who is a police official.

The deceased was identified as Shailesh Kumar, who had recently arrived in Chennai along with seven other youth from Uttar Pradesh in search of work. After reaching MGR Chennai Central railway station, the group travelled to Sriperumbudur. The eight youths rented a house in Salaiyanur village near Sriperumbudur and joined work at a canteen located in the Sriperumbudur Sipcot.

As it was a holiday for the workers on Tuesday, the youth consumed liquor in their house. Later that night, some of them went to a nearby grocery shop and asked for gutkha, tobacco products which are banned in Tamil Nadu. When the shopkeeper told them that such products were not being sold at the shop, an argument broke out. The youth assaulted the shopkeeper and left the spot.

Following the incident, the shopkeeper complained to Gnanamoorthy, a traffic police personnel attached to the Guduvanchery police station who owns the house where the youth are staying.

Gnanamoorthy along with the shopkeeper and a few other residents went to the house and questioned the eight youths. He told them that they should not have consumed alcohol in the house, and asked them to vacate the premises immediately. An argument broke out between them. During the confrontation, they assaulted the youth and Shailesh sustained injuries.

The group then took Shailesh back to the house where they were staying. However, on Wednesday morning, he was found dead. Following his death, the other youth approached the Sriperumbudur police station and filed a complaint claiming that Shailesh died after being assaulted by the house owner, the grocery shopkeeper, and others from the locality.

The Sriperumbudur police registered a case of suspicious death, recovered Shailesh’s body and sent it to the Chengalpattu District Government Hospital for post-mortem examination. The police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death and questioning the people involved in the incident.