Youth hacked to death in broad daylight at Tirunelveli court premises, 4 held

CHENNAI: A young man, identified as Mayandi, was brutally hacked to death by a four-member gang on the premises of a court in Tirunelveli’s Palayamkottai on Friday morning, said a Daily Thanthi report. Four suspects were arrested immediately after and are presently being interrogated.

Mayandi had arrived at the court to attend a hearing in a case related to the murder of a local panchayat vice president. While waiting for the judge to arrive, a gang of four suddenly ambushed him. As the youth tried to run from the court premises, the gang chased him. When he reached the gate, they caught him and slashed him repeatedly with sickles. He suffered severe cuts all over his face and body, collapsed in a pool of blood and died while the attackers fled the scene in a car. A Maalaimalar report said that Mayandi had previously survived two murder attempts.

The police who were on security duty at the court seized the youth’s body and sent it to a hospital for an autopsy.

A case has been registered in connection with the murder, and the police have arrested three individuals, Siva, Manoraj, and Thanga Mahesh, within Tirunelveli Taluk police station limits, according to a Thanthi TV report. A special police team had apprehended the trio and also seized the car and weapons used in the crime.

Another accused, a Ramakrishnan, who was arrested earlier, is being interrogated by a separate special force at a different location to gather further details about the murder.