Chennai: In a dispute during a Vinayagar procession in Chennai, a city bus driver belonging to the festival committee was beaten to death. In connection with this, police have detained and are questioning 6 people, including an IT company employee.
Seenivasan (45) was a resident of Venkateshwara Nagar, Ramapuram, Chennai. He had been working as a bus driver for the Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation. In connection with Vinayagar Chaturthi, special pujas were held the day before yesterday at the Raja Ganapathi Temple there. That night, a Vinayagar idol procession took place in that area.
It is said that when the Vinayagar procession passed through the 13th Street of Venkateshwara Nagar, it turned back midway. As a result, those who had been waiting there to see the deity’s procession were disappointed. They questioned the festival committee about this.
At that time, a quarrel broke out between city bus driver Srinivasan, who was part of the festival committee, and Aniskumar, Suresh, Veera, Sanjay, Ritheesh, and Rajesh from the same area, as well as IT company employee Anand (35), Bhuvanesh, Dinesh, Aswin, Hari, and Gudwin. This later turned into a physical altercation.
Upon receiving the information, the Ramapuram police rushed to the scene and pacified both sides. Following this, everyone dispersed. Meanwhile, it is said that Anand, Bhuvanesh, and six others went to the house of Aniskumar, who was part of the festival committee, engaged in an argument, and attacked him.
On learning of this, Srinivasan and others ran there and got into an argument with the opposing side. At that point, it is said that an enraged Anand struck Srinivasan hard on the chest. Srinivasan collapsed unconscious.
Friends took him to the hospital. Doctors who examined Srinivasan there said that he had already died. Ramapuram police have registered a case in this regard and are questioning six people, including Anand and Hari, employees of an IT company.