The police have arrested a 23-year-old youth from Valparai in Coimbatore district for murdering a 72-year-old woman.

The arrested has been identified as K. Ranganathan, who had been residing with his sister’s family in a quarters for tea estate workers at Lower Paralai, Valparai.

According to the police, Sarojini, who worked in the tea estate for five decades, had come to the quarters before Pongal to collect the government’s gift hamper for ration cardholders. Though she quit the work and moved to her son’s house in Coimbatore last year, she had not changed her address in the ration card.

The police said Sarojini had an argument with Ranganathan after the latter axed a tree on the premises of the quarters for firewood on Saturday when other residents were away for work. The youth assaulted the woman with a machete’s handle on head repeatedly. He fled the spot after leaving the woman inside the quarters, where she had been staying for over a week.

Other residents found Sarojini dead when they returned from work in the evening. On information, the Valparai police reached the spot and shifted the body to the Government Hospital, Valparai, for post-mortem examination.

The police formed four special teams and launched a hunt for Ranganathan. He was arrested late on Sunday.