TIRUCHY: In an act of revenge murder, a 38-year-old man was hacked to death on the court premises at Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli on Friday by a four-member gang. As the assailants took to their heels after the gruesome daylight incident, the advocates caught one of them. Three who escaped were arrested by the police later in the evening.
It is said that S Mayandi (38), a resident of Keezha Natham was waiting on the court premises to appear in a case related to the murder of a Dalit youth Rajamani on August 13, last year, in which he was the prime accused. Suddenly, the four-member gang came to the spot in a car and attempted to attack him with lethal weapons. Though Mayandi tried to escape, the gang caught hold of him after a brief chase and assaulted him, leaving Mayandi dead on the spot with multiple injuries.
When the gang members attempted to flee from the spot, the advocates on the premises caught hold of one of them, who was later identified as Ramakrishnan. The body of Mayandi was rushed to Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital.
Later, the Tirunelveli taluk police arrested the other three, who were identified as Siva, Manoraj and Thanga Mahesh.
The investigation found that the deceased Mayandi had been involved in the murder case of a Dalit youth Rajamani after which Mayandi and his friend Isakki were arrested. "Mayandi came to the court to appear for the case and the murder took place while he was waiting on the court premises. The murder is suspected to be a revenge killing," said a police source.
Meanwhile, the police retrieved the CCTV footage for investigation and formed three special teams for further investigation.