COIMBATORE: A 50-year-old man gunned down his father-in-law and shot himself to death over a family dispute in Tirupur on Monday.

Police said Muthukumar alias Raj Kumar (50) from Padiyur near Kangeyam, who runs a hollow block manufacturing unit, opened fire at his father-in-law Palanisamy (70), a poultry farm owner, with a licenced pistol.

“The elderly man was taking his cattle for grazing in the morning when Muthukumar, who came by the way after dropping his college-going daughter at the bus stop, got down from his car and fired five rounds at him. Palanisamy collapsed to death on the spot,” police said.

Police said Muthukumar then sped away on the car to his house, where he informed his wife about what he did and trained the gun on himself. Family members immediately rushed him to Kangeyam Government Hospital, where he succumbed without responding to treatment.

Police retrieved the bodies of the duo and sent them to Tirupur Government Hospital for postmortem examination. Police officials said their initial inquiries revealed that Muthukumar developed a grudge against Palanisamy after the latter lodged a police complaint against him for assaulting his wife Ambika (45) a few years ago following some domestic quarrel.

“Muthukumar was infuriated with his wife maintaining a cordial relationship with her father Palanisamy. As she recently participated in their family function, he decided to kill him. He owned a pistol, the licence of which he had renewed only recently,” police said. Further inquiry is on.