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Madurai tea-shop owner allegedly murdered by five over refusal to give free tea

In a brutal crime, a 45-year-old tea shop owner in Madurai was hacked to death allegedly by five men at daybreak on Saturday. The police are searching for the accused based on visuals of the incident captured by a CCTV camera near the shop.

According to the police, Marimuthu lived in Krishnapuram Colony and ran a shop that sold tea and snacks in a small shopping complex in the locality. On Saturday, around 6 am, Marimuthu reached his shop to open the shutters as he did every day. The CCTV visuals from near the complex show two men walking towards the shop and going inside. Within seconds, three men spill out of the shop and take a run, closely followed by two more men.

“As soon as this happened, a few people who were around the spot, picked up Marimuthu and rushed him to the Government Rajaji Hospital. But he succumbed to his injuries on the way,” a police officer told TNM.

Explaining further about the background of the accused and their relationship with Marimuthu, the policeman said, “The five men are notorious in the area for consuming intoxicating substances. Minor altercations have happened earlier between this group and Marimuthu. They used to ask for free tea to him and create nuisance in that area. We suspect today also they might have demanded free tea from him and when he refused, they attacked him with knives and machetes that they had kept hidden in their clothes,” he added.

The police have registered an FIR under section 302 (murder) of the IPC and have detained two suspects. The whereabouts of the remaining men are not yet clear and the police have launched a search operation to nab the accused.

Source: The News Minute