CHENNAI: A 30-year-old painter, who went to bring back his estranged wife and their two-year-old daughter, was allegedly hacked to death by his brother-in-law and two others near Kundrathur on Saturday evening.

The deceased was identified as Arun Pandian (30) of St Thomas Mount. He was married to Pradeepa (26) from Thirumudivakkam three years ago and the couple has a two-year-old daughter.

According to the police, Arun was allegedly addicted to alcohol, irregular to work, and used to harass his wife under the influence of liquor. Because of the differences, Pratheepa left him a year ago and had been living with her mother at Vazhuthalampedu near Thirumudivakkam.

On Saturday evening, Arun went to patch up with his wife and bring her back to live together. He went to his in-laws' house and asked Pratheepa to return with him. However, he had gone there in an inebriated condition again and Pratheepa refused to go with him, said the police.

This led to an argument, during which Arun allegedly assaulted his wife. Seeing this, Pratheepa's younger brother Praveen and his friends, Venkatesh and Velu, intervened. After the scuffle escalated, the three allegedly attacked Arun with sickles. He sustained severe cut injuries and died on the spot.

On information, a team from Thirumudivakkam police station rushed to the spot, recovered the body, and sent it to the Chromepet Government Hospital for post-mortem examination.

The police registered a case of murder and arrested all three accused, P Praveen (20), S Venkatesh (20), and P Velu (20). All three were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.