Dharapuram, Tiruppur: Hospital staff at a government hospital near Dharapuram were shocked when a man arrived carrying his severed hand after allegedly losing it in a sickle attack during a fight, police said on Saturday.

The 32-year-old coconut harvester, identified as Muniyandi from Dindigul district, suffered the injury following a dispute over work at an agricultural farm near Dharapuram on Friday, police said.

Muniyandi had recently joined work at a farm owned by Easwaran near Goundachipalayam.

Ranjith, 32, a resident of Vellode near Perundurai, had been working as a coconut harvester at the same farm for several years. Police said a dispute broke out between the two men over coconut harvesting work.

During the altercation, Ranjith allegedly attacked Muniyandi with a sickle, severing his hand.

Despite suffering the grievous injury, Muniyandi placed the severed hand inside a plastic cover and rushed to the Dharapuram government hospital in a private ambulance.

As the hospital lacked adequate surgical facilities to reattach the hand, doctors placed the severed limb in an ice box and urgently referred Muniyandi to Coimbatore Government Hospital for advanced treatment.

Mulanur Police have registered a case and are investigating the incident. PTI