Seven held for murdering cab driver in Kilpauk

CHENNAI: City police on Tuesday arrested three persons in connection with the murder of a 26-year-old cab driver near Kilpauk on Saturday night.

The arrested are Yovan Gilbert (21) alias Yona, the main accused in the case, and S Ajith (23) and M Deepak (23). The police arrested Yovan’s associates S Arjun (23), K Mathew Joseph (24), M Vasanthakumar (23), and G Akash (22) on Monday.

The deceased, R Karna alias Karunakaran, was murdered in revenge for assaulting Yona, a rowdy, in public view at a funeral six months ago, police investigations revealed. Karunakaran was living at Kuttiyappan street in Kilpauk. He was walking along Sanniyasapuram main road when Yona’s gang rounded him up and started pelting stones at him. One of them also threw a boulder at the victim’s face. Passerby rushed him to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Secretariat Colony police secured Karunakaran’s body and moved it to a government hospital for autopsy. According to police, Karunakaran had criminal cases against him including an attempt to murder case and had come out on bail in March.