Man held for murdering friend in drunken brawl

Coimbatore: A 26-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for murdering his friend in a drunken brawl near Singanallur bus stand in the city.

The Singanallur police said they arrested N Sakthivel alias Kathirvel, a resident of Neelikonampalayam on the outskirts of the city, for killing M Suppan, 28, a native of Mysuru, by smashing his head on Wednesday night. A sanitary worker, Suppan was staying at his relative’s house in Singanallur, a police officer said.

According to the officer, the duo consumed liquor together and were walking down the streets of Singanallur around 9pm on Wednesday when they entered into an altercation, which ended in fistfight. “In a fit of rage, Sakthivel grabbed a stone that lay on road and smashed the victim’s head with it indiscriminately.”

On seeing Suppan in a pool of blood on road, commuters on the stretch called up the government ambulance service and admitted him to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. He, however, succumbed to his head injuries after a few hours without responding to the treatment.

Meanwhile, Suppan’s relatives launched a search for him as he didn’t return home after work, but in vain. They subsequently lodged a missing complaint with the Singanallur police, who later identified the deceased as Suppan and registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and arrested Sakthivel, who confessed to the crime, on Thursday morning.

Sakthivel was produced before a judicial magistrate later in the day and lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison under judicial custody.