Six arrested for murder of Hindu Munnani supporter

Special teams of the Coimbatore City Police arrested six persons late on Monday in connection with the murder of a Hindu Munnani supporter at Ram Nagar here on Sunday afternoon.

Raja, Karthik, Ilaiyaraja, Aravind, Vivek Prabhu and Praveen alias ‘Kili’ were arrested for the murder of C. Biju (40), a resident of Dhanalakshmi Nagar near Avarampalayam and a supporter of Hindu Munnani.

A seventh accused named Arumugam of Ganesh Nagar near Narasimhanaickenpalayam was at large.

The police said Biju was running a soda shop and finance company on Gokhale Street at Ram Nagar where Arumugam’s son Nithish Kumar and Hindu Munnani workers including one Anandh used to hang out.

Arumugam, an active member of Mukkulathor Pulipadai, a caste-based organisation, has been running a belt store at Ram Nagar. Biju, according to the police, had attempted to compromise clashes between Anandh and Kumar.

The two groups had minor clashes in the past and Anandh’s friends Rahul from Ram Nagar and Vishnu from Kannappa Nagar had assaulted Kumar on September 12.

Following the incident, according to the police, Arumugam had demanded Biju to warn Anandh against getting into further clashes with his son Kumar. Biju reportedly backed Anandh, earning the wrath of Arumugam and the six others, who are also members of the caste outfit, said the police.

The accused hacked Biju at Ram Nagar on Sunday afternoon and he succumbed to injuries at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital later.

A senior police officer said that no communal angle was involved in the murder.