Ooty: Auto driver beaten to death

Udhagamandalam, Apr 29: An auto driver was on Friday allegedly beaten to death by some persons after he fell on a woman in their group in this tourist town, police said.

The group was having tea at a shop in Kandhal near here, after performing some pooja at a graveyard when 47-year-old Govindan, parked his autorickshaw near the shop but fell on the woman when he was getting out of the vehicle, police said.

Enraged, about four persons assaulted Govindan, who fell down. Even though an ambulance was called, a doctor declared him dead. Police managed to take into custody two persons - Vinod and Sekar - for questioning, during which they said the driver was in an inebriated condition and wanted to molest the woman in their group, police said.

Meanwhile, some 500 auto drivers squatted in front of the police station and sought immediate action against those who assaulted Govindan, claiming that he had fallen on the woman after fainting as he suffered from low blood pressure, police said.

The body has been taken for post-mortem, police added.

PTI