Dharmapuri: A 28-year-old meat shop owner was electrocuted after coming into contact with an illegal electric fence erected around a groundnut field near Kaveripattinam in Krishnagiri district. Police have arrested a farmer for setting up the fence and dumping the victim’s body near a lake in Dharmapuri.Police said the deceased identified as P Arul, 28, of Sapparthi village, ran a chicken stall at Pulinthoppu near Kaveripattinam. Arul went missing on November 3 following an altercation with his mother, Lakshmi, 50, who scolded him over some business issues. After failing to trace him, his mother lodged a missing person complaint with the Kaveripattinam police on November 5.On Thursday night, residents alerted the police after finding Arul’s body near the Pudhukollai lakebed under Mahendramangalam police limits in Dharmapuri district.Subsequent investigations revealed that around 4am on November 3, Arul had walked to the groundnut field belonging to his relative, Vijayakumar, 34, a farmer. He accidentally touched the electrified wire fence, set up illegally to keep wild boars away, and died on the spot. “Panicked over the death, Vijayakumar loaded the body onto a vehicle and dumped it near the lakebed to conceal the incident,” said a police officer.Dharmapuri district police arrested Vijayakumar, produced him before a local court, and remanded him in judicial custody.
