Coimbatore: Two videos of a 23-year-old ganja peddler, who was kidnapped from his house at Rathinapuri in a car by a four-member gang on January 25, being thrashed fatally by a four-member gang near Mettupalayam went viral on Monday.
The videos were retrieved by police from the mobile phone of one of the accused.
R Manikandan, 23, from Nallampalayam Road at Rathinapuri, was working as an electrician. Police said Manikandan was kidnapped from his house by a four-member gang at 11.30am on January 25. Manikandan was found with severe head injuries near Mettupalayam on January 27 and was admitted in a hospital. He was discharged on January 28 but re-admitted in a private hospital on January 29 as he developed severe pain. On Thursday, Manikandan died without responding to treatment.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that Manikandan was a ganja peddler and was in love with a woman at Rathinapuri. A few months ago, Manikandan was arrested and remanded in judicial custody for ganja sales. During the period, the woman married another man.
After getting bail, Manikandan threatened the woman’s husband Suresh to break the marriage. On January 25, Suresh and his friends kidnapped Manikandan from his house.
In one of the videos, Manikandan was seen being forced to kiss the foot of one of the kidnappers. In another, he was found beaten severely inside a car by the gang.
The Mettupalayam police registered a murder case against Suresh and his friends. On Monday, police detained Rajagopal, a driver from Thirumangalam in Madurai, and seized an SUV (sports utility vehicle) used for kidnapping Manikandan.
Police retrieved the two videos from Rajagopal’s mobile phone that went viral.