MADURAI: In the second murder in Madurai within twenty four hours, an advocate was hacked to death by a four-member gang in full public view on Friday morning near Tiruppalai.
Police said Muthudurai (36), of Thiruvetanallur, an advocate, was the first accused in the murder of Shanmugasundaram (40), which took place on May 11 this year at Thiruvetanallur.
Police said that Shanmugasundram was murdered due to an ownership dispute over a car and a few other financial transactions between him and Muthudurai. After the murder, Muthudurai and few others were arrested and lodged in the Palayamkottai prison.
During the third week of July, the advocate was released on conditional bail and until early this week he was appearing before Madurai Anna Nagar police every day. Over the last couple of weeks, he had also been visiting the Madurai Bench of Madras HC regularly.
According to police, on Friday around 9 am, he was returning to his house on his two-wheeler when a four-member bike-borne gang intercepted him near a Krishna temple and hacked him in full public view.
Muthudurai, who suffered serious injuries succumbed on the spot. Police suspect that the lawyer could have been murdered by the gang to avenge the killing of Shanmugasundaram.
They said that the gang had come from Tirunelveli as one of the motorbikes carried a Tenkasi registration number. Condemning the murder, the lawyers boycotted the Madurai bench.
Madurai SP Vijayendra Bidari said that special teams will be formed to intensify the patrolling and other appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.