Udupi: A man was arrested for allegedly attacking a shopkeeper with acid and also attempting to attack him with a machete following a dispute over the refund of a house rental deposit in Udupi on Wednesday. The accused is 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, the accused, Acharya, had vacated a house on the first floor of the complainant’s property in Vishnumurthy Nagar. Acharya had paid a security deposit of Rs 20,000. When Naveen 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 deduction and demanded the entire deposit, threatening the complainant. On Oct 23, he allegedly visited Naveen’s shop and threatened him over the issue, and on Wednesday around 3.30 pm, Acharya allegedly returned to the shop, picked a quarrel with Naveen over the deposit and left. He then allegedly took a bottle and a machete from his scooter and returned, threatening to burn and kill the complainant, and allegedly poured acid on him and attempted to attack him with the machete. Naveen managed to hide from Acharya but sustained burns.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 with PSI Bharatesh Kankanavady 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. The accused was produced before a court, which remanded him in judicial custody.Police said Acharya, a resident of Kunjibettu, currently lives in a rented house near the MGM grounds, and 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.
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