Chennai, A functionary of the ruling TVK was hacked to death by an armed gang in Besant Nagar here, police said on Sunday, with the murder drawing criticism from the Opposition over the state’s law and order situation.
CCTV footage of the attack has since surfaced and been widely shared. The incident came a day before Chief Minister and TVK founder C Joseph Vijay is scheduled to respond to the Opposition’s criticism of the law and order situation in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Police have arrested at least five persons in connection with the murder so far, officials said. Kannan was a history-sheeter with a criminal record, according to police. Preliminary investigation suggested previous enmity as the likely motive, pointing to a revenge killing, police sources said. Taking a swipe at the administration, the DMK leader said a history-sheeter who had joined the ruling TVK was chased and hacked to death on an open road, and questioned whether this was the “Vettri” law and order the government claimed to have established in Tamil Nadu. “Ahead of the Hon’ble Chief Minister replying to the debate on the Police Demand for Grants tomorrow, a functionary of his own party has been murdered in the capital,” Udhayanidhi said in a post on X.
The deceased, identified as Kannan, was chased and attacked with machetes on Saturday night, police said.
