RANIPET: After family and friends of Makkal Desam Party east district secretary Vivekanandan protested against his death at the hands of an unidentified gang late last night on Thursday, traffic on the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway was affected for a while.

Vivekanandan, a resident of Athipattu village near Kaveripakkam in Ranipet district, who had many cases pending against him, was riding a two-wheeler on Wednesday with a friend on pillion.

A car which was following suddenly rammed from behind on the service road at Sumaithangi village. When both were thrown off, the inmates of the car got out and hacked both resulting in Vivekanandan dying on the spot while the friend escaped.

On receipt of information, Kaveripakkam police retrieved Vivekanandan’s body and sent it to hospital for post- mortem and registered a case. Relatives of the deceaswed blocked the road demanding immediate arrest of the killers.

Following talks and police assuring them action, the protesters dispersed.