Construction worker held for murdering co-worker over monetary dispute in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: A construction worker was arrested on Friday for murdering a co-worker over a monetary dispute at Raja Street in the city on Wednesday.

The arrested has been identified as D Nagarajan, 58, from Melur in Madurai district.

Police said P Rajendran, 63, a construction worker from Thiruvarur district, who was working in Coimbatore city, was addicted to alcohol. On Wednesday, Rajendran's co-worker Chinnappa found him unconscious a while after he had consumed liquor and called for an ambulance. Meanwhile, Chinnappa also informed Rajendran's daughter Revathi, 31, over the phone about her father's condition. However, when the ambulance arrived, the staff examined Rajendran and declared him dead. His body was sent to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for a postmortem.

Revathi subsequently lodged a complaint with Variety Hall Road police, who registered a case of suspicious death on Thursday morning. Rajendran's body was handed over to his family after a postmortem on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, forensic experts alerted the police after they found that Rajendran had suffered severe head injuries, resulting in his death. Police launched an investigation with other construction workers who were working with Rajendran. Preliminary inquiry revealed that Rajendran had borrowed 10,000 from Nagarajan and had failed to repay the amount. On Wednesday, when Nagarajan demanded that Rajendran repay the amount, and a heated argument broke out between the two and Nagarajan assaulted Rajendran with a wooden log in a fit of rage.

Nagarajan was arrested on Friday and remanded in judicial custody.