Chennai: A 21-year-old youth was hacked to death, and his body was partially burnt before being dumped in Puzhal lake on Tuesday night. The deceased and four of his friends, including two juveniles, were drinking when a quarrel erupted, leading to the murder. All four accused were arrested. The deceased was identified as R Mukundhan of Kallikuppam. The arrested were N Sanjay, 19, of Ambattur, the prime accused, Hari, 20, and two juveniles.Mukundhan and Sanjay went to the banks of the lake near Annai Sathya Nagar on Tuesday night after Sanjay sold his mobile phone to fund the drink. While they were drinking and consuming tablets, Sanjay called his friends to join them. Mukundhan objected, saying there wasn’t enough liquor for more people. By then, Hari and the two juveniles had joined them. The argument escalated, and the group attacked Mukundhan. In the melee, Sanjay pulled out a concealed knife and attacked him. Others too joined the assaul. Mukundhan suffered severe cut injuries and died on the spot, police said.The accused then rolled his body in a mattress, tried to set it on fire, and later dumped his charred remains in the lake and fled the scene. On Wednesday morning, residents spotted the body near the shore and alerted police. The body was sent to Kilpauk govt hospital for postmortem.Police investigation found that there had been a financial dispute between the deceased and Sanjay and Hari. Sanjay has pending complaints related to assault and the sale of narcotic tablets against him.
