Coimbatore City Police Commissioner Pradip Kumar has ordered the detention of P. Muthukumar (44), who was recently arrested for murder and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, under the Goondas law.

Police sources said the detention order was served on the accused at Coimbatore central prison on Saturday.

The accused, who was a construction worker, confessed to police that he had committed a penetrating sexual assault and murdered the girl, after which he stuffed the body into a plastic bag and threw it on top of thorny bushes about 150 m from his residence.

The accused also allegedly broke into the girl’s residence and stole jewelry after the murder, police said. All-female police in Coimbatore East reserved Muthukumar under sections of the POCSO Act and placed him in judicial custody on December 17, 2021.

A man found murdered

A worker employed at the TK market, who was found bleeding on the market premises in the early hours of Monday, died during treatment.

Police say A. Yusuf (54) worked as a loader at TK Market.

On Sunday evening, he allegedly engaged in a physical altercation with another housekeeper, Nazar (47), as both were intoxicated. The two men attacked each other with logs and were seriously injured.

The other workers who arrived at the market saved the two and admitted them to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. While Yusuf died during treatment, Nazar was treated in hospital, police said. Big Bazaar Street police convicted Nazar of murder and a further investigation is underway.

Two inmates for an offer to open an ATM

Thudiyalur police on Monday arrested two migrant workers accused of attempting to open a State Bank of India automatic teller machine (ATM) in the early hours of Monday.

Police said Chandra Sekhar Bhue (24) and Brindavan Bagarthi (26) were from Odisha and attempted to break the ATM in Rakkipalayam after midnight.

Police received an alert from the Mumbai office of the SBI regarding the attempted break-in, following which they rushed to the scene and secured the two at around 2:45 a.m. The defendants were taken into custody more late in the day.