CHENNAI: Two men were hacked to death in public view in separate incidents in the city within a gap of 12 hours. The first incident took place around 10 pm on Wednesday in Thiruvanmiyur when a gang surrounded one Dhanasekaran and hacked him to death.
On Thursday morning, Suresh just dropped his son at school around 9.15 am at Indira Nagar, Adyar and was returning home when a gang hacked him to death, much to the shock of other motorists in the busy morning hours.
“It was raining around 10 pm on Wednesday. We heard sounds of a bike skidding and a man shouting,” recollected Nagappan, a 75-year-old man, in front of whose house at Avvai Nagar, Tiruvanmiyur, the gang slaughtered Dhanasekaran. Despite rains in the night, blood stains were still fresh on the walls of Nagappan’s house and a nearby shop even on Thursday morning.
“Dhanasekaran was riding a motorbike in a narrow street when he was attacked. Hearing screams of the local residents, the assailants fled from the spot,” said a police officer investigating the case. The public alerted 108 ambulance. He died in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital around 11.30 pm. Dhanasekar was arrested in 2013 in connection with the murder of one Madhan and had recently come out on bail. “There was a constant threat to his life from associates of Madhan,” said one of Dhanasekar’s friends, who was waiting at a government hospital.
Police said that they have arrested T Raja (29), S ‘Vellai’ Sankar (22) and P Bharathi (30) in connection with Dhanasekar’s murder. While Dhanasekar has a criminal history, Suresh (35), who was brutally hacked to death in broad day light on Thursday morning, had no such history. A realtor by profession, he had just dropped his son Karthikeyan, 7, at school on the Second Main Road, Indira Nagar, Adyar around 9.15 am.
“The armed gang slaughtered Suresh. Three members of the gang threatened the public from interfering. Only after the gang confirmed that Suresh had died, it left the spot,” said a senior police officer supervising the case. Suresh was staying in Adyar with his wife Kalaivani, 30, son Karthikeyan, 7, and daughter Sai Priya, 4.
Police suspect that Suresh was targeted by a gang which aimed to take revenge on his brother Kathirvel. A police officer privy to the case said, “Neither the suspects nor the victim have any case pending against them in Chennai. The killers could have hired a new gang. We are investigating.”