Three assailants hacked to death a corporation official outside a tea shop in Chennai on Saturday evening, the sixth such murder in the city in two months.
Mullai Gnanasekar, a 55-year-old councillor, was attacked around 5.45pm while he was sitting in a tea shop in Manali, an industrial area of the city, police said.
Gnanasekar was a member of the Tamil Maanila Congress, before joining the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam a few years ago. He is survived by his wife and five children.
“We do not believe his death was because of a political rivalry,” a police source said. “Instead, we believe he was murdered over a business deal gone wrong.”
Police said they launched a search for the three men shown in a CCTV footage and that an investigation was underway.
His murder is the latest in a spate of public hacking in Chennai. Last month, the murder of Infosys employee S Swathi triggered outrage across the state. The 24-year-old was hacked to death on June 24 at Nugambakkam Railway Station.