Chennai: When police stopped an auto splattered with blood during an early-morning patrol near Kundrathur on Friday, the three men inside tried to pass it off as blood from a hand injury. Unconvinced, the cops took them in for questioning and eventually uncovered the murder of their 27-year-old friend.Thirumudivakkam police, who intercepted the auto during patrol, found the three occupants in an inebriated state. When questioned about the bloodstains, they initially claimed that one of them had suffered an injury to his hand.Finding their behaviour suspicious, the officers took the trio to the station for questioning. During interrogation, the suspects confessed that they had attacked and killed their friend. The trio then led the police to Poothandalam, where the body of Mahesh, 27, of Nandambakkam near Kundrathur, was found.Police sent the body to Tambaram GH for postmortem examination. The suspects were identified as Harikrishnan, 23, Venkatesan, 24, and Mahesh, 22, all from the same locality. Police said the four were autorickshaw drivers and friends.The men had recently quarrelled while drinking and exchanged blows. Harikrishnan, who felt humiliated after being assaulted in front of their friends, decided to kill Mahesh, police said.On Thursday night, the trio invited Mahesh for a drinking session at a vacant plot in Poonthandalam. During the meet-up, they attacked him with a knife, leaving him bleeding and unconscious. Believing that he had died, they put him in the autorickshaw and drove to another location to dump the body. When they realised that he was still alive, police said that the accused dropped a stone on his head, killing him.The trio then drove away in the bloodstained autorickshaw and ran into the police. Officers seized the vehicle and are conducting further inquiries.
