Mayiladuthurai (Tamil Nadu), Feb 15 (UNI) In a gruesome incident, two youths, including an engineering student, were brutally murdered by a gang of bootleggers when they questioned the sale of illicit arrack at Muttam village under Perambur police limits in Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu late on Friday night.
Police said the deceased were identified as K Harish (25) and Harisakthi (22), a 3rd-year engineering student.
The accused, Raj Kumar (30), his kin Thangadurai (28), and Moovendan (34), all habitual bootleggers, were selling illicit arrack in the village.
There was a feud between the bootleggers and the two youths over the issue.
The trouble started when Dinesh (24) and his friends Harish and Harisakthi questioned them for selling arrack. The enraged bootleggers assaulted Dinesh severely.
When Harish and Harisakthi attempted to resist the attack, the bootleggers stabbed them with knives multiple times in a violent attack and escaped from the spot.
While Harish died on the spot, Harisakthi succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital.
Enraged over the double murder, the relatives of the deceased and locals resorted to roadroko agitation, demanding stringent action against the bootleggers.
Tension flared in the aftermath of the double murder, with a mob torching the houses of the bootleggers and setting fire to a tent in front of one of the houses.
Mayiladuthurai Superintendent of Police G Stalin rushed to the spot and pacified the agitators.
Police swung into action and arrested all three accused in the wee hours of Saturday.
The bodies of Harish and Harisakthi were removed to the Mayiladuthurai Government Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
A large number of policemen were deployed in and around Muttam village as well as the government hospital to prevent backlash.
UNI GSM ARN