SALEM: A DMK branch secretary was shot dead with a country-made gun near Vazhapadi on Thursday night when an unidentified assailant opened fire at him as he was travelling with his wife on a motorcycle. Police have begun an investigation into the incident.
Rajendran (45), a farmer from Kirangadu hill village in Kalvarayanmalai, Salem, was the DMK branch secretary of Kirangadu. He lived with his wife Saritha, daughters Kokila (24) and Parimala (20), and son Naveenkumar (17).
He owned a farmland in the village where he usually stayed overnight. On Wednesday, around 7.30 pm, he left for the farm on a motorcycle with his wife.
While they were crossing a pothole at a short distance from their house, Saritha got down and walked behind while Rajendran continued slowly in the vehicle. At that time, an unidentified man hiding behind bushes in the forest allegedly fired a shot at Rajendran with a country-made gun and fled. Pallet shots hit him on the neck, and he collapsed in a pool of blood. Shocked by the gunshot, Saritha found him lying on the ground. He died on the spot a short while later.
Villagers of Kirangadu who reached the spot informed the Kariyakovil police. Inspector (in charge) Kamalakannan and the team conducted an inquiry and sent Rajendran's body to the Salem GH for postmortem.
District Police Superintendent Gautham Goyal inspected the site early on Thursday. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the assailant had been hiding in a secluded spot in the forested patch before firing at Rajendran. Police are probing the motive behind the killing.
During the inquiry, it was revealed that Rajendran had a land dispute with his brothers Rajamanickam and Palanisamy, and a related case was pending before the Attur court. Suspecting their possible involvement, the police picked them up for questioning late at night.
Investigators are also examining whether Rajendran's role as an "informant" to police and forest officials on illicit liquor brewing, illegal arms possession, and timber smuggling in the Karumandhurai–Kalvarayanmalai belt led to retaliation. The police are pursuing multiple angles, including family issues and local criminal activities.