The Thamarassery police on Sunday arrested five bar staffers suspected of murdering a 40-year-old man during a drunken brawl.
The police said Ribash Vijayan had died of head injuries sustained during a clash with the staffers on Friday night. Viju Gopi, 38, Rajan Kelappan, 50, Haridasan, 58, Abhilash Chandran, 37, and Anilkumar Govindan, 40, were charged under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
They will be produced in the Thamarassery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court.
Ribash was found dead near the bar on Saturday morning.
Not a planned act
The police believe that the murder was not a planned one. Ribash, who was in an inebriated state, collapsed during the brawl and was left unattended, they said. According to police sources, the bar staffers had turned aggressive on the 40-year-old as he declined to leave the bar premises even after working hours. They said the staffers were unaware of the injuries on his head. The staffers were arrested on the basis of CCTV footage.