Gang of 5 beats 42-yr-old man to death, three held

Police said Babu of Mahaveer Nagar, who runs a transport firm, had gone to a petrol bunk with two friends — Arun Wilfred and Srinivasan – around 11 pm on Wednesday. Babu was standing at the entrance of the bunk when a man, reportedly drunk, came on his two-wheeler with his wife and child to fill petrol.

Babu reportedly advised him not to ride the bike while under the influence of alcohol, which led to an argument between them. After the couple left, five men who were having food at a nearby food stall, picked up a quarrel with Babu for allegedly abusing the couple. This quickly descended into an argument, and the gang attacked Babu with rods and stones. His friend Wilfred, who came to Babu’s rescue, also suffered injuries. Despite suffering injuries on the back of his head, Babu went home instead of consulting a doctor.

On Thursday morning, he developed a seizure and was rushed to Billroth hospital. Meanwhile, he also lodged a complaint. Based on this, Madhavaram police registered a case and arrested three of the attackers — Hyder Ali, Jothiswaran and Ashok. Police are searching for two others — Karthik and Surendran.

On Friday, Babu died without responding to treatment, following which the case was converted into that of murder.

His body was sent to Stanley Government Hospital for post mortem examination.