Kochi: A man who was brutally assaulted by a group of people irked by his pet dog's barking last week, succumbed to his injuries on Monday, according to police. The deceased is Vinod (45) of Thottungalparambil near Mullassery Canal Road. Vinod died at the hospital where he was undergoing treatment for his injuries. He worked as the driver of High Court Judge Sathish Ninan.

Vinod was allegedly attacked on March 25 by four youngsters employed by the central government. The accused, who are from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, work at the post office, police said. They have been identified as Ashwini Golkar (27) of Shatabdi Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Kushal Gupta (27) of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Utkarsh (25) of Ganga Nagar in Rajasthan, and Deepak (26) of Sonipat in Haryana. They were arrested the following day.

According to the police, the four accused targeted Vinod's dog for barking. "The accused resided in an apartment near his house. According to the complaint, on March 25, they threw sandals at Vinod's pet dog for barking. This led to an altercation and assault, during which one of the accused strangled the deceased from behind, rendering him unconscious," a police officer said.

During the assault, Vinod suffered brain damage and was hospitalised for six days. On March 26, police filed a case and arrested the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 307 (attempt to murder). "Now we will submit a report and will change the section from 307 to 302 (Murder)," the police said.
(With PTI inputs)