CHENNAI: An actor who plays the main villain in a TV series, Thenmozhi BA, was hacked to death in the wee hours of Sunday. He was identified as Selvarathinam (30).
"On Saturday, Selvarathinam did not go for shooting and stayed with his friend Mani, an assistant director. In the wee hours of Sunday, he received a phone call after which he left. A little while later his roommate received information that the actor had been hacked to death," said a police officer.
After he alerted police, a team from MGR Nagar police station rushed to the spot and sent Selvarathinam’s body for postmortem.
A case has been registered and a hunt has been launched for the suspects. His wife and children live in Virudhunagar and they have been informed about Selvarathinam's death. A Sri Lankan refugee, Selvarathinam, has been in the field for the last 10 years. Police said CCTV footage shows two men moving about in a suspicious manner near the murder spot.
History-sheeter murdered
In a separate incident, a 26-year-old man who went to his in-law's house in Ambattur to celebrate Deepavali was hacked to death on Saturday night. The deceased, Balaji of Koyyathope near Villivakkam, has 10 cases of assault and robbery pending against him, said the police. He is a house painter by profession.
Around 8.45 pm, Ambattur Industrial Estate police received information that Balaji was lying in a pool of blood in ICF Colony and his body was sent for postmortem.
Inquiries revealed one Sathish Kumar of the same area recently accused Balaji’s brother Srinivasan of stealing his gold chain. "Balaji who was under the influence of alcohol allegedly threatened Sathish Kumar that he would eliminate him. Sathish Kumar then gathered his friends and murdered Balaji," said police.
A hunt has been launched for the gang. Meanwhile, Balaji’s friends set fire to Sathish Kumar’s house, which escalated tension in the area.