Gang murders panchayat VP’s brother in Ponneri

CHENNAI: An unidentified gang attacked the vice-president of a panchayat near Ponneri in Tiruvallur and his elder brother on Sunday night, leaving the latter dead. Police suspect the attack could be connected to a complaint that the vice-president had filed about a group of people defacing an Ambedkar statue.

The deceased was identified as G Lakshmanan, who worked as a security guard at a private company. His brother, G Elango (29) from Neduvarambakkam village in Ponneri in Tiruvallur district, is a DMK functionary who was elected as the vice-president of the Neduvarambakkam panchayat union, police said.

On Sunday night, the brothers had visited the local police station in connection with a case and were returning home when they were attacked. As the two of them were returning home on their two-wheeler around 9 pm, a group of men who were hiding in the bushes jumped onto the road and blocked their vehicle. Before the brothers could react, the gang started attacking them with weapons and fled in bikes that were parked a few metres away.

Passerby from a nearby village rescued the brothers and rushed them to a private hospital nearby, where Lakshmanan was declared dead on arrival. The Sholavaram police registered a case and further investigations are on.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Elango had lodged a complaint against a few men who allegedly defaced Dr Ambedkar statue in Neduvarambakkam in January. The persons who were arrested in the case were released on bail recently and police suspect the attack to have been an act of revenge.