A 23-year-old youth named Arun Praksah was hacked to death in Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu on Monday night. The incident took place in Vasanth Nagar in the Ramanathapuram town area and the police have detained multiple suspects in connection to the crime.
According to Deputy Superintendent of police Velladurai, a gang of 12 armed men attacked Arun Prakash, even as his other friends fled the spot. The police official tells TNM that the murder was the result of an ongoing rivalry between two gangs in the town.
"Arun belongs to a gang led by a man named Kamatchi. On Monday morning, his gang and the gang that attacked had a verbal fight that led to a physical altercation. So the same evening the rival gang came to attack Kamatchi but she was not there. They found Arun with other friends and attacked them. Arun died due to the assault while the others managed to escape," he adds.
According to The Hindu, the four suspects who are detained include Mohamed Riyaz, Kamatchi, Suresh and Shahul Hameed. In addition to this, the police are on the lookout for Shiekh Abdul Rahman and a man named Saravanan.
When asked about social media posts that insinuated that the murder was due to communal reasons, the DSP dismissed the theory.
"This is not communal. This is due to previous enmity," he tells TNM.
Hindu Munnani general secretary Ramamurthy too tells TNM that there is a lack of clarity regarding the motive for the murder.
"We are told that they are rival drug peddlers, but it is not clear. But irrespective of this, we don't understand why there have not been any immediate arrests. While Arun was killed, his friend Yogeshwaran also was injured. One of the men who have been detained, who goes by the name Sheik, has also tried to attack one of our functionaries before. We demand that swift action is taken in this case," he added.