CHENNAI: Police on Tuesday arrested seven people, including two juveniles, in connection with the murder of two young gana singers near Manimangalam in Kancheepuram district.
Police suspect the murders were linked to an ongoing rivalry between two groups and were carried out in retaliation for earlier threats and assaults.
The accused were identified as D Santhosh (23) of Ammanambakkam, K. Kalaiselvam alias Anbu (20) of New Perungalathur, Ayyappan alias Mani (26) of Pallavaram, Kumaravel alias Potti (20) of Mudichur, Vealan (19) of Old Perungalathur, and two juveniles, aged 16 and 17.
According to the police, the victims Bharath (25) and Seenu alias Srinivasan (24), both residents of Varadharajapuram near Padappai, were hacked to death at Ammanambakkam in the wee hours of Sunday.
Investigations revealed that Bharath was previously associated with prime accused Kumaravel. Police said Bharath had allegedly assaulted and threatened some of Kumaravel’s associates in the past. Bharath had also been pressuring one of the juveniles to share information about Kumaravel’s movements and had threatened to kill him if he refused.
Sources said Bharath had allegedly gone to the juvenile’s house a day before the murder and issued fresh threats. Following this, Kumaravel and his associates allegedly planned the attack and went to Lokesh’s house after learning that Bharath was staying there.
Police said Bharath and Seenu had returned after performing at a concert near Padappai and were sleeping at Lokesh’s house at Ammanambakkam. Lokesh was staying there with his parents Mohan (45), Sangeetha and his younger sister Kerin.
A gang arrived at the house on three two-wheelers wearing helmets and masks, and barged in after breaking open the door. The assailants first attempted to attack Lokesh, who escaped after raising an alarm.
When Lokesh’s father Mohan tried to stop the gang, he sustained injuries. During the attack, Seenu allegedly attempted to prevent the assailants from attacking Bharath. Ayyappan and Kalaiselvam allegedly attacked Seenu with knives, the police said.
The attackers hacked Bharath and Seenu before fleeing the spot. Bharath died inside the house, while Seenu collapsed near the entrance in a pool of blood. On receiving information, Manimangalam police rushed to the scene and sent the bodies to Tambaram Government Hospital for postmortem. Further investigation is under way.
