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Five men, all aged 20 years, have been arrested for allegedly hacking to death a 45-year-old history-sheeter and ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) functionary on the night of Saturday, September 5, in Chennai's Adyar.
The deceased has been identified as S Kannan, a resident of Vannandurai in Adyar. He was chased and attacked by a five-member gang near his office on Ellaiamman Koil Street.
A friend who was with Kannan shortly before the attack told the media, “We were speaking with him when two men wearing helmets arrived on a motorcycle and attacked him with knives. Three more men then arrived on two-wheelers and joined the attack with machetes. We ran away as they tried to attack us as well. We could not recognise them,” he said.
The assault was captured on a surveillance camera and the footage was widely circulated on social media on Sunday.
Kannan was a B-category history-sheeter on the records of the Shastri Nagar police station and he ran a business renting cars to IT companies.
Kannan had earlier served as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) secretary of the south ward unit of the Adyar area, before quitting the party and joining the TVK along with his supporters around two months ago.
The Shastri Nagar police registered a murder based on a complaint filed by Kannan’s cousin S Purushothaman. His body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem.
A special team was formed under the instructions of Chennai Police Commissioner A Amalraj to probe the murder.
According to reports, Kannan and his associates were allegedly involved in the 2009 murder of Siva, the maternal uncle of Bharani (20), one of the five accused. Bharani’s father Velu was also murdered in Saidapet in 2016. Bharani had been holding a grudge over the two killings and allegedly decided to target Kannan with the help of his associates.
Other accused have been identified as P Rakesh of Govindarajapuram in Adyar, P Naresh of Periyar Nagar in Thiruvanmiyur, D Manikandan of Kottur and N Hariharan of Indira Nagar in Adyar, all aged 20 years. All five have been arrested.
The killing has assumed significance as it came just before Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is scheduled to respond to the Opposition’s criticism of the state’s law and order situation during the Assembly debate on the Police Demand for Grants on Monday.
Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin targeted the TVK government over the murder, pointing out that a functionary of the ruling party had been killed in the state's capital.
In a post on X, Udhayanidhi said, “A history-sheeter who joined the ruling TVK seeking protection for his life has been chased and killed on the street. Is this Tamil Nadu’s successful law and order situation?”
He also said the government should take steps to ensure public safety instead of looking for ways to blame the previous government.
Following the murder, Chennai Police Commissioner A Amalraj transferred Adyar Deputy Commissioner AC Karthikeyan and Shastri Nagar Inspector Rohini to Vacancy Reserve.