Six from Tripura arrested for ‘murdering’ West Bengal native near Coimbatore

Six migrant labourers were arrested on Wednesday (September 9) for allegedly murdering another at Othakalmandapam near Coimbatore.Tuithe Reang (22), Sunil Rai Reang (24), Kotho Ram Reang (30), Sumit Kumar (20), Sramit Trang (35) and Santhosh Kumar (20), all from Tripura, were arrested on the charge of murdering BadalShit (24) from West Bengal.Police said Badal was found dead in a parcel of land belonging to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department at Othakalmandapam on Tuesday morning. His body was found buried in a shallow pit with one arm protruding from the ground.A few workers who were planting tree saplings in the land noticed the arm and alerted the Chettipalayam police, who rushed to the spot and exhumed the body in the presence of Revenue Department officials. The body, which bore multiple injury marks, was shifted for a post-mortem examination.The police registered a case of suspicious death and identified the deceased as Badal. The investigating team found that he had been residing near Othakalmandapam. His mobile phone, which was missing from the crime scene, was found to have been used by one of the accused. The police traced the tower location and apprehended the accused. They were then interrogated.According to the police, Badal came across the accused at the spot on Monday night when the latter were consuming alcohol. Badal had already consumed liquor from a nearby recreational club (FL2 licence bar) and was taking a short-cut to his accommodation.Badal allegedly demanded alcohol from the accused, and it led to an altercation. The accused assaulted him with blunt objects. When Badal died, they hurriedly buried the body in a pit, which had been dug by workers for the afforestation drive. The accused then fled with his mobile phone. Published - September 09, 2026 08:10 pm IST