CHENNAI: The NHRC on Tuesday said it has issued a notice to the police chief of Tamil Nadu and the collector of Tirunelveli district over reports that a retired sub-inspector of police was murdered in broad daylight by a group of four persons.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report on the incident.

"Reportedly, the victim was an activist fighting legal cases against the encroachment of Waqf land in the area and had been receiving death threats from some people. He had also alleged that the police was not taking proper action against them as it was hand-in-glove with them," the rights panel said in a statement.

The Commission has observed that the content of the news report, if true, raise a serious violation of the human rights of the victim.

Therefore, it has issued notices to the director general of police of Tamil Nadu and the district collector, Tirunelveli, seeking a detailed report within four weeks, the statement said.

According to the media report, the family of the deceased has alleged that "police inaction and gross negligence" led to his murder.