Man beaten to death over business rivalry in Namakkal

Namakkal: A man who was dining at a biryani restaurant on Paramathi Road in Namakkal town was beaten to death over a business rivalry on Monday night.

Three people including two women have been arrested in connection with the incident. The arrested have been identified as Mauleeswaran, 42, the biriyani shop owner, his mother Jyothi Malar, 65, and wife Nisha, 38.

The deceased has been identified as K Sridhar, 52, of Pothupatty Colony on Paramathi Road. He was running an idly shop.

On Monday night, Sridhar visited the biryani shop located near his shop for dinner. The two women assaulted him after he allegedly poured liquor into a glass meant for drinking water. The women informed Mauleeswaran, who soon joined in the assault and beat Sridhar severely with a beer bottle.

Namakkal district SP S Rajesh Kannan said, "Sridhar collapsed and lost consciousness. He succumbed to his injuries while being transported to the hospital." He added that Sridhar had suffered significant bleeding in the assault.

Namakkal town police registered a case and sent the body to the Namakkal Government Medical College and Hospital for a postmortem. During investigation it came to light that the accused had a business rivalry with the deceased and were frequently involved in altercations.

Based on their confession, police arrested the three and remanded them in judicial custody. All three were lodged at the Salem Central Prison on Tuesday.