THOOTHUKUDI: A 52-year-old lorry shed owner was murdered in an act of revenge at Sankaraperi village on the outskirts of Thoothukudi corporation on Wednesday. Sources said five bike-borne men hurled three country bombs at the lorry shed of its owner, J Sakthivel, and hacked him to death.
"Sakthivel bled profusely and died on the spot. The gang fled the scene in three bikes. SP L Balaji Saravanan inspected the crime scene. An unexploded country bomb was recovered and defused. According to a preliminary investigation, Sakthivel was killed by the associates of Karupasamy, who was hacked to death in January this year. Sakthivel was named as the sixth accused in Karupasamy's murder," said sources.
The suspects have been identified as Lakshmanan of Pudukottai, Chellappa of Sathankulam, Sudalai Muthu of Pudukottai and two others.
"They had pledged to eliminate foes of Karupasamy during his funeral. Though Karupasamy was accused in multiple murder cases, his associates were not notorious and had very few cases. They were not detained under the Goondas Act, added sources. A case has been registered at the SIPCOT police station. A search is on to find the five suspects.