A group of persons today beat an auto driver to death because he accidentally fell on a woman who was part of the group. The incident took place at a tea shop in Ooty.

The group had come to the tea shop in Kandhal for some refreshments, after performing some pooja rituals at a graveyard. 47-year-old Govindan parked his autorickshaw nearby and came to the shop, but suddenly fell on the woman.

Enraged with it, four men, of the group, assaulted Govindan, who fell down on the floor.

The 108 ambulance was called, but he was declared dead. Immediately, three people ran from the place. But the cops managed to catch two of them – Vinod and Sekar – and took them to the police station for interrogation. The two men told the police that the driver was drunk and tried to misbehave with the woman.

But, by then, on hearing about the incident, some 500 auto drivers squatted in front of the police station and sought immediate action against the ‘killers,’ adding that Govindan suffered from low blood pressure and that was why he fell on the woman and fainted.

Govindan’s body was sent for post mortem. Further investigations are on.