Constable among two held after migrant worker dies following assault

A 24-year-old migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh died after he was allegedly assaulted by two men during an altercation over his eviction from a rented premises at Salaiyanur near Sriperumbudur.S. Gnanamoorthy, 33, the traffic police constable who owns the house, and A. Arif, 26, a grocery store employee, were arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Thursday.The deceased, Sailesh Kumar of Ghazipur district, along with eight others, had come to Sriperumbudur on October 5 in search of work. The group secured employment at a catering canteen and rented a portion of a house owned by Gnanamoorthy, who is attached to the Guduvancheri traffic unit.According to the police, on Tuesday night, Sailesh went to the grocery store operating from the house and asked for paan masala. An argument broke out after Arif told him it was unavailable, following which Sailesh returned to his accommodation.The police said Arif informed Gnanamoorthy about the incident, following which the two went to the workers’ accommodation and asked them to vacate. During the confrontation, Sailesh was allegedly kicked by the duo. The company’s HR representative later arrived and took the workers away.Sailesh was found dead on the premises the next morning. The Sriperumbudur police initially registered a case of unnatural death and sent the body to the Government General Hospital in Kancheepuram for a post-mortem.The autopsy revealed a liver injury and internal haemorrhage. The police subsequently concluded that the injuries sustained during the alleged assault had caused his death and altered the case to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Published - October 09, 2026 03:25 am IST