UDUPI: A man was arrested for allegedly attacking a shopkeeper with acid and attempting to assault him with a machete following a dispute over the refund of a house rental deposit in Udupi on Wednesday.The accused has been identified as Suresh Acharya (48).The complainant, Naveen Kumar, who runs a shop on Railway Station Road, was undergoing treatment in the burns ward of a private hospital when he lodged a complaint on Wednesday.According to the complaint, Acharya had vacated a house on the first floor of Kumar’s property in Vishnumurthy Nagar.Acharya had paid a security deposit of Rs 20,000. When Kumar inspected the house after it was vacated, he found that the walls and taps had been damaged.He told Acharya that two months’ rent and the repair costs would be deducted from the deposit.However, Acharya allegedly refused to accept the deductions and demanded the entire deposit, threatening Kumar in the process.On October 23, he allegedly visited Kumar’s shop and threatened him over the issue. At around 3.30pm on Wednesday, Acharya allegedly returned to the shop, picked a quarrel with Kumar over the deposit and left.He then allegedly took a bottle and a machete from his scooter and returned to the shop, threatening to burn and kill Kumar. He allegedly poured acid on the shopkeeper and attempted to attack him with the machete.Kumar managed to hide but sustained burn injuries.Based on the complaint, Udupi Town Police registered a case under Sections 124(1) and 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).A special team led by Udupi Town Police Inspector Mahesh Prasad, PSI Bharatesh Kankanavady and other personnel arrested Acharya near the MGM grounds in Shivalli village within hours of the incident.Police seized the scooter and the machete allegedly used in the crime. Acharya was produced before a court, which remanded him to judicial custody.Police said Acharya, a resident of Kunjibettu who currently lives in a rented house near the MGM grounds, is allegedly heavily dependent on alcohol. He does gold and silver jewellery work from home and also works part-time for an online food delivery service.
