Man taunts gang for harassing family, stabbed to death with his own knife in Ennore

CHENNAI: A drunken attempt to threaten his rivals by brandishing a knife turned fatal for a 28-year-old man, as the latter snatched the knife from him and stabbed him repeatedly, in Ennore on Saturday night.

The man died on the spot, said Avadi city police, adding that they arrested the accused within two hours of the murder.

The deceased was identified as Bala alias Yuvaraj of Anna Sivakami Nagar, while the accused were Sanjay, Surya, Eswarapandi and Vijayakumar whom he used to harass demanding money to buy liquor.

Bala was arrested in a case, and after coming out on bail, he moved to Andhra Pradesh and was working there. When he was away, the quartet who held a grudge against him started harassing Bala's family members. In August, the four of them were arrested based on a complaint from Bala's family.

On Saturday, Bala had come to Ennore to meet his friends. Around 11 pm, as he was riding a motorbike with his friend Thiyagarajan, Bala spotted the four of them gathered outside Sanjay’s home on Annai Sivakami Nagar 5th Street.

Bala, who was drunk, took the knife he was carrying and approached the group. He questioned them for harassing his family when he was away, and taunted them. The four of them suddenly snatched the knife out of Bala's hand and attacked him repeatedly with the same knife. They also attacked Thiyagarajan before fleeing the spot, police said.

Based on an alert, a team from the Ennore police rushed to the scene, and took Bala and Thiyagarajan to a hospital where Bala was declared as brought dead. Police arrested Sanjay, Surya, Eswarapandi and Vijayakumar from a hideout.

They were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.