VISAKHAPATNAM: A ganja smuggler from Madurai in Tamil Nadu was hacked to death in full public view by a group of seven assailants on the National Highway 16 near Vempadu toll plaza in Nakkapalli mandal on Saturday. All the seven assailants were chased and caught by police with the help of locals. The deceased was identified as V Neelamegha Amaran (33) hailing from Madurai. Preliminary inquiry revealed that the victim was a member of ganja smuggling gang based in Tamil Nadu.
According to police, Amaran was stopped by the assailants who came in an SUV, while he was walking on the road after having breakfast in a hotel near the toll plaza around 8:30 am. While he was going towards the main road after a brief talk with them, the assailants mobbed Amaran and attacked him with knives. They got into an SUV and sped towards Yelamanchili.
Alerted by the locals, the highway patrol team chased it for about 30 minutes. The assailants who went towards the Polavaram canal near Marribanda village, fled after abandoning the vehicle. Police caught the assailants with the help of locals. Facing difficulty in questioning the accused due to language barrier, police sent the details of the accused and the victim to their TN counterparts. The police came to know that Amaran, a car driver, was member of a Tamil Nadu-based ganja smuggling gang.