Two men killed in separate murders at Kelambakkam, Kundrathur

CHENNAI: Two men were killed in separate incidents at Kelambakkam and Kundrathur, with police arresting three suspects in each case.

At Kelambakkam, K Praveen Kumar (23) was hacked to death by relatives and friends of a girl with whom he was reportedly in a relationship.

According to police, Praveen was talking to his friends near his house on Sunday night when a group surrounded him and attacked him with knives. He suffered grievous injuries and was admitted to a nearby private hospital. He died at the hospital in the early hours of Friday.

Police had earlier arrested Ezhumalai (48), Manikandan (38), and Natheesh (19), in connection with the assault. Following Praveen’s death, the case was altered to murder. Further investigation is underway.

In a separate incident at Kundrathur, a 27-year-old auto driver, Mahesh, was beaten to death by three of his friends, also auto-rickshaw drivers. Police identified the accused as Harikrishnan, Venkatesan and another person named Mahesh.

The trio was arrested after police, during a patrol near Tirumudivakkam in the early hours of Friday, noticed blood stains inside their auto. They were allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time. During interrogation, they confessed to the murder.

Police said Harikrishnan had recently quarrelled with Mahesh while drinking and was humiliated after the fight took place in front of their friends. According to police, he invited Mahesh for drinks on Thursday night and attacked him with a sickle following an argument. The accused later hit him on the head with a stone, resulting in his death.

Police recovered the body and sent it for postmortem. The auto was seized and further investigation is underway.