Two held for attempt to murder petrol bunk worker

Puducherry: Police arrested two men on Monday night on charges of attempting to murder a worker of a petrol pump mistaking him for another worker, who refused to fill petrol for Rs 50 after receiving just Rs 20.

The arrested were identified as M Kavi alias Kaviarasan, 21 and S Pradeep alias Ramesh, 22 both from Reddiarpalayam. Police produced them before judicial magistrate III M Dhanalakshmi, who remanded them in judicial custody on Tuesday.

Superintendent of police (north) Rachna Singh said the two youth on bike reached a petrol pump near the Indira Gandhi statue around 11pm on January 14.

They opened a friendly conversation with a worker, identified as

Kumaraguru

from Villupuram district and urged him to fill petrol for Rs 50 by giving him just Rs 20. Kumaraguru refused and filled petrol for Rs 20 only.

The duo left the pump threatening him of dire consequences. They returned within a few minutes and Kaviarasan, who was riding pillion, was armed with an aruval. By the time they reached Kumaraguru left the pump after his shift and his colleague

K Vetrivel

, 33 from Villupuram district took over. The duo mistook Vetrivel as Kumaraguru and Kaviarasan attacked him with sharp weapon. Vetrivel ran helter-skelter but the armed man chased and attacked him on his head and shoulders.

The worker sustained severe cut injuries in his head and shoulders and swooned. His colleagues rushed him to Indira Gandhi government medical college cum research institute.

The worker, who is said to be critical, is battling for life.Reddiarpalayam police registered a case against the two under Sections 294-B (utter any obscene words in any public place) and 307 (

attempt to murder

) of the Indian penal code and launched a hunt for them.

A police team led by inspector T Nagarajan and sub-inspector S Ramesh procured the CCTV footages and managed to identify the registration number of the bike used by the accused.

They identified the accused and secured them around 11pm on January 16 near the railway track in

Vayal Veli Nagar

. The team produced them before judicial magistrate III M Dhanalakshmi, who remanded them in judicial custody.