CHENNAI: A 47-year-old real estate businessman was hacked to death near a crematorium in Tiruverkadu near Chennai on Friday. The deceased, identified as Sivakumar, was on his way to pick up his children from school when he was murdered.

Sivakumar lived with his wife, Vijayakumari, and three children - two daughters and a son - in Tiruverkadu.

On Friday evening, he was on his way to the school in an auto-rickshaw that he hired regularly to pick up his children. He asked the auto driver to stop the vehicle to attend nature's call.

When he stepped out of the vehicle, a gang that was trailing the auto in motorcycles attacked Sivakumar with weapons and fled the scene. Based on the auto driver's alert, a police team reached the scene and moved Sivakumar to a hospital where he was declared as brought dead.

Preliminary investigations indicated that Sivakumar was involved in a financial dispute, which may have led to the murder. Based on CCTV footage, the Tiruverkadu police have detained two suspects for questioning on Saturday.