A 40-year-old man, who was an accused in a murder case dating back to 2019, was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men inside Madurai Rajaji Government Hospital on Sunday. The police suspect it to be a case of gang rivalry and are on a manhunt to nab the accused.
According to a report, V Murugan, a resident of Karumbalai near Anna Nagar, was admitted in the hospital on June 5 after an accident and had a broken arm and a stroke. The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday in the Annexure building of the hospital, around 5.30 am. Murugan’s wife, who was taking care of him in the hospital, had stepped out to buy tea only to find her husband dead when she returned.
The police told Indian Express that they suspect it to a murder with some motive since Murugan already had a criminal record to his name. The report also stated that the crime did not happen in the COVID-19 ward of the hospital.
Speaking to TNM, a police officer at the Mathichiyam police station said that the police are analysing CCTV footage and questioning suspects to know more about the accused. “Murugan was accused in a murder case in 2019 and this is primarily suspected to be a revenge crime. However, we are investigating it,” the officer added. In 2019, he was involved in the murder of Patta S Rajasekar, a 27-year-old man on the Vaigai river bed. Murugan was allegedly working for someone and had left the city after that incident. However, he had returned recently after he fell sick, the police said.
An FIR has been registered under Sections 148 [Rioting, armed with deadly weapon], 149 [Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object], 449 [House-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with death] and 302 [Murder] of the IPC.