MADURAI: A forty-year-old man identified as Kaleeswaran was allegedly murdered by an armed gang near Tiruparankundram in Madurai on Saturday night.

The incident occurred at around 9.45 pm when he was walking alone near his house at Vengalamurthy Nagar in Thanakkankulam, sources said.

Kaleeswaran succumbed to injuries on the spot as he was hacked indiscriminately by the gang before fleeing the scene. The mutilated body was found in a pool of blood. The body bore wounds on the head and neck after being hit multiple times with machetes.

Based on a complaint, Austinpatti police filed a case and sent the body to Government Rajaji Hospital for post-mortem, sources said.

Madurai Superintendent of Police BK Arvind inspected the scene of the crime and held inquiries. Preliminary inquiries carried out by the Austinpatti police revealed that the victim was a relative of VK Gurusamy, a DMK functionary and former Chairman of Corporation Zone.

Previous enmity was said to be the cause of the murder. However, the exact motive behind the killing would be known after a thorough investigation.

Kaleeswaran was a criminal and cases were booked against him in police stations at Keerathurai, Teppakulam and Avaniyapuram.

However, two special teams were formed as per the directive of the Superintendent of Police to nab the offenders, sources said.