TIRUNELVELI: A 25-year-old man belonging to an intermediate caste was hacked to death by a gang at Gopalasamudram in Tirunelveli district on Wednesday allegedly in retaliation to the murder of a Dalit construction worker.
Police sources said Gopalakrishnan of Gopalasamudram Thekkur was one among the eight Caste Hindus accused in the murder of construction worker Dharmaraj on November 2, last year in the same area.
On Wednesday morning, Gopalakrishnan and his relative Karthick (25), an agriculture labourer at Gopalasamudram Thekkur, went to take bath in Thamirabarani river.
When they were returning on a bike, a gang of six persons chased them on two-wheelers. As they ran to the north side of the main bazaar at Gopalasamudram, another gang waiting there attacked them. While Gopalakrishnan escaped, the gang assaulted Karthik with sharp-edged weapons. Karthik died on the spot.
On information, police officials led by Tirunelveli district SP Narenthiran Nayar rushed to the spot and conducted enquiry. The body was sent to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
Meanwhile, supporters of the murdered person blocked the road from Gopalasamudram to Suthamalli. However, police dispersed them and removed the stones. Tension gripped the area and shops downed shutters. Police said to take revenge of Dharmaraj’s murder, his supporters planned to murder Gopalakrishnan. As he escaped, the gang murdered Karthik.
SP Narenthiran Nayar said there was a conflict between two sections of people in the area. Six special teams were formed to nab the accused and more than 200 police personnel were deployed in the area, he added.
In October last year, miscreants desecrated the flag pole of a caste outfit in Gopalasamudram. Condemning it, the people staged a road roko, seeking the arrest of the miscreants. Muneerpallam Police registered a case under 153 A IPC.