CHENNAI: VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan’s personal secretary S Vetriselvan was chased and hacked to death by an armed gang in broad daylight on Wednesday.
Vetriselvan, who was residing at Sabapathy Nagar in Madipakkam, had come to his real estate office at Ragava Nagar when he was targeted by the gang of about five men around 7:20 am. Locals said Vetriselvan was inside his car when the gang, which arrived in another car, forced him out of the vehicle after smashing the front glass window pane with a sickle.
“They chased him with sickles and other weapons. He was running for his life and entered the office of a catering services firm nearby. But the gang overpowered him and repeatedly assaulted him,” said Iyappan, a local resident.
A heavily bleeding Vetriselvan collapsed on the floor. Soon after that, the gang fled the spot in cars. The local residents soon alerted 108 ambulance and he was rushed to a nearby private clinic. However, Vetriselvan had suffered severe cut injuries and he died within minutes after reaching the hospital.
While the broad daylight murder came as a rude shock for the local residents, the police said a property dispute between Vetriselvan and his close relatives was the reason for the murder. “A dispute has been going on between Vetriselvan and his close relatives over properties that are worth several crores. We believe that it was the only motive behind the murder,” said deputy commissioner of police Avinash Kumar, who is in charge of the investigations.
Another police officer said that Vetriselvan was scheduled to do a property transaction that day. “We suspect the murder was an attempt to prevent this. We cannot reveal much details at this moment as it will hamper the investigations,” he added.
Vetriselvan used to visit his office and a gym he owns in the same building every morning. The assailants had apparently taken note of this and executed the murder, police said.
A few minutes after the incident, the residents of Kannan Nagar in Alandur noticed a black car parked suspiciously and alerted the cops. The Madipakkam police seized the vehicle suspecting that it was used by the gang.
Till Wednesday evening, police did not make any arrest and said they are questioning a few suspects.
Vetriselvan was very close to Thol Thirumavalavan. On hearing the news, the VCK leader, who was out of station, arrived at the deceased’s house in the evening and paid homage. Vetriselvan has a daughter and a son — both MBBS students.