Two minors among seven arrested in separate murder cases

Trichy: Trichy city police have arrested seven people in connection with the murders of a 45-year-old painter and a differently abled man in separate incidents.In the first case, painter C Benjamin was beaten to death in Mudaliar Chatram by his colleagues in a verbal altercation on Monday. The accused were identified as Alex Arockiyaraj, 58, from Khajapettai, and Mariya Prathab, 43, from Palakkarai. Police said that Benjamin and his uncle Albert alias Anthonysamy, 80, along with Alex and Prathab, consumed liquor at Mudaliyar Chathiram on Sunday. It is alleged that Anthonysamy took 2,000 from Alex's shirt pocket in an inebriated state. On Monday, Alex and Prathab questioned Benjamin and Anthonysamy about the stolen cash. A verbal altercation broke out between them, in which Alex and Prathab assaulted Benjamin and pushed him down. Benjamin swooned, and was admitted to MGMGH for intensive care treatment, but died the same day. Palakkarai police arrested Alex and Prathab, and remanded them in judicial custody.In another case, five people, including two minor boys, were arrested for murdering a differently abled man near Thiruvanaikoil in March. Police sources said that the deceased man was begging in front of the Srirangam temple. On March 24, Kumar allegedly abused some minor boys in a secluded area near Thiruvanaikoil. R Rajkumar, 23, C Sriram, 21, and A Sridhar, 20, witnessed the incident. They questioned Kumar, assaulted him and demanded money from him. The trio also attacked Kumar with a large stone, in which he sustained severe injuries and died on the spot. To hide the crime, the accused and three minor boys aged between 15 and 17 years, burnt the body and buried the remains near a brick kiln.Based on a missing complaint lodged by Kumar's parents on April 17, Srirangam police registered a case. Police recovered Kumar's mortal remains on May 4. Srirangam police arrested five accused on Monday. Two minors were sent to a juvenile home in Thanjavur, while the other three accused were remanded. One minor is missing.