TIRUVANNAMALAI: What started as a drunken brawl took a deadly turn following the death of one person allegedly due to head injuries early on Tuesday. The clash broke out after two groups of youth from neighbouring villages in the district went for a round of drinks at Manalurpet on Monday. Selvakumar (32) of Perumanam village and friend Ezhilmaran were returning home past 10 pm after consuming alcohol. When they neared Kolapappattu road, the way was blocked by three men—Arun Kumar (28), Gunasekaran (29) and Parisutham (29)—from the adjoining Devanur village. They were also allegedly in an inebriated condition and refused to let the men on the motorcycle pass. An argument ensued and blows were exchanged. As they were outnumbered, Selvakumar and Maran escaped, even as the trio chased them. As they cut across a field nearby, Selvakumar allegedly fell into the farm well and sustained a head injury. He is then believed to have drowned. Ezhilmaran then took the news to their village. The irate villagers rushed to the well and managed to retrieve the youth’s body just before midnight.A few of the deceased youth’s friends then allegedly entered Devanur, caught Arun Kumar and brought him back to their village. They then tied him up in a room and beat him up continuously.The Veraiyur police said even as they argued with the villagers to release the youth, a large mob from Devanur arrived and a ‘pitched battle’ took place. As more policemen arrived, they managed to separate both parties just before 1 am, after conciliatory talks.However, an SI said when they tried to take Arun Kumar into custody, Perumanam villagers began pelting stones at his team. Not only was their jeep’s windscreen smashed, SIs Murthy and Anbalagan, and constable Ramesh were injured.Later, a high alert was sounded and Tiruvannamalai SP Chamundeshwari arrived with about 200 policemen, including a team of rapid action force personnel. When stones were hurled at them as well, the policemen resorted to a lathicharge. The situation came under control only after tear gas shells were lobbed. It was only then that they were able to take Arun Kumar to the hospital.C Sylendra Babu, North Zone IG, inspected the spot and visited the injured policemen. Once the stone-pelters are identified, cases would be registered against them, he said. Arun Kumar, Gunsasekaran and Parisutham were arrested in connection with the death of Selvakumar.
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