Chennai: A sacked contract worker, along with seven of his associates, attacked a private container yard manager at Velli Vayal Chavadi near Manali New Town, and murdered him in the wee hours of Friday. All the suspects are absconding.
Police said Sai Prashanth, 45, from Kudur in Andhra Pradesh, worked in the yard as a manager. He lived onsite overseeing loading and unloading operatoins on a daily basis, said police.
Police said the problem started when Balaji, 25, a contract worker, and a team of 14 others, all from Andhra Pradesh, were involved in loading and unloading work at the container yard on Feb 5.

As Balaji left work before the scheduled time, it caused delays in container loading.
The next morning, when Sai Prashanth questioned Balaji about his unauthorised leave, an argument ensued, resulting in Prashanth sacking Balaji.
The next day, around 1am, Balaji arrived at the container yard along with his associates Shyam, 28, Sai Sarathy, 32, Mukilan, 30, and four others on motorcycles. Though the night security person, Ponraj, questioned them about their presence at odd hours, they insisted on meeting the manager and forced their way on to the premises.
They then barged into Prashanth’s room and attacked him with knives and iron rods. Prashanth suffered critical head injuries and died before his colleagues could take him to a hospital. The attackers fled on their motorcycles.
On information, the Manali New Town police reached the spot and took Prashanth to the Govt Stanley Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body was sent for post-mortem.
Police have formed a special team to locate the suspects.