Gang murders 27-yr-old, caught during vehicle check

CHENNAI: A 27-year-old history-sheeter was hacked to death, allegedly by a rival gang in a case of suspected revenge murder near Red Hills, during the early hours of Monday.

The deceased was identified as K Mathivanan, a resident of Gandhi nagar near Red Hills. Around 2 am, Mathivanan was with his friends, Hemanth, Sarath and Danush near his residence in an autorickshaw, when the attack happened.

Police sources said that the rival gang had come in an autorickshaw and started raining blows using knives and weapons on Mathivanan and his gang, taking them by surprise. While Mathivanan’s friends were inflicted injuries, they fled from the scene as the gang rounded up Mathivanan and hacked him to death.

While the murder happened during the early hours of the day, the gang was caught by the police in a routine vehicle check. A patrol team, which found blood-stained weapons in their vehicle detained two of them, while one person managed to escape.

The duo was handed over to Sholavaram police. They were identified as Surya (28) of Pakkam and Ramki (25) of Red hills. Meanwhile, police secured Mathivanan’s body and moved it to government stanley hospital for autopsy.

Police said that he has several cases against him, including ganja peddling. Preliminary investigations suggested that Mathivanan was eliminated by the gang of another history sheeter, ‘Ganja’ Mani, who was murdered last year.

Police are yet to ascertain the reason for enmity between them. The arrested persons were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.