Police lathi charged two stone pelting groups in Kottaimedu, in the heart of the city, as a fallout of the killing of Hindu Munnani leader, Sasikumar late last night.

The trouble started when a section of mourners moved to Kottaimedu, a Muslim-dominated area, while returning from the Government Hospital, after the postmortem of Sasikumar’s body, and asked shopkeepers to down their shutters, police said.

When some shopkeepers entered into an argument with the Munnani workers, they retaliated with stone throwing, and people in the area responded in kind, police said.

As the situation started turning precarious, a posse of police rushed to the spot and asked the groups to disperse and resorted to the lathi charge. The groups then stopped and dispersed, police said.

Meanwhile, the body is being taken in a procession to Kavundampalayam and will be kept for the public to pay homage, even as some senior leaders of Hindu Munnani such as State president Kadeswara Subramaniam and State BJP general secretary Vanathi Srinivasan are expected to pay floral tributes, sources in the organisation said.