Bail accused hacked to death in Coimbatore, revenge angle suspected

A 24-year-old man who was earlier arrested in a murder case and later released on bail was brutally beaten to death by an unidentified gang in Coimbatore on Tuesday night, police said.
The deceased was identified as Praveen Kumar, alias Japan, a resident of Kempatti Colony in Coimbatore. He was a daily wage labourer and had been working in a coconut fibre company in Mysuru, Karnataka. He had returned to Coimbatore on Tuesday evening.
According to police, Praveen Kumar was consuming alcohol with friends around 7.30 p.m. in a bushy area near Ashok Avenue, Balaji Nagar, in Kempatti Colony, when a gang of four men arrived at the spot. A quarrel broke out, following which the assailants attacked him with stones and sharp weapons, inflicting severe injuries on his head and hands.
Praveen Kumar died on the spot due to excessive bleeding. After confirming his death, the gang fled the scene.
Initial investigation by the Selvapuram police revealed that the murder could be linked to an earlier case. In 2024, a youth named Gokul Krishnan was hacked to death during clashes that occurred during Vinayagar Chaturthi celebrations in the Selvapuram area. Praveen Kumar was one of the accused in that case and had been released on bail.
Police suspect that the killing was carried out as an act of revenge for Gokul Krishnan’s murder.
The body was sent to the Coimbatore Government Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination. A special team has been formed to trace and arrest the four-member gang involved in the murder. Further investigation is under way.