Five persons were arrested for the death of a farmer near Cheyyar town in Tiruvannamalai on Tuesday for damaging groundnut cultivation.

The arrested persons were identified as S. Satyamurthy (34), S. Sakthivel (32), S. Sarala (58), S. Karthiga (29), S. Chitra (27). They are relatives of deceased farmer K. Thulukanam (44). Initial inquiry revealed that deceased farmer Thulukanam was living with his family including three children in Kuthanur village near Cheyyar town for many years. His elder brothers K. Sekar and K. Ethiraj were farmers and cultivated paddy in three acre farmland each in the village.

Police said after the death of Sekar a few years ago, farmer Thukukanam and Satyamurthy, Sekar’s eldest son and key suspect, decided to jointly cultivate the farmland. Police said that Sathyamurthy requested Thulukanam to use a portion of the land to build a house for himself. Both of them agree to provide a common pathway to reach the farmland.

Police said that as part of construction work, Sathyamurthy brought a huge quantity of mud for levelling work. The lorry driver dumped mud on the groundnuts in the farmland. Saplings were planted by Thulukanam, who got agitated when he saw damage to the crops.

Police said Thulukanam and Sathyamurthy got into an argument. In support of Sathyamurthy, four family members joined him. Thulukanam was badly beaten up by them. Police said neighbours and elder brother Ethiraj rushed him to Government Taluk Hospital in Vembakkam town where doctors said that he was brought dead. A case was registered. Arrested persons were lodged at Central Prison in Vellore. A probe is underway.