Chennai: A 40-year-old history-sheeter was hacked to death by a gang inside a community

hacked

Chennai: A 40-year-old history-sheeter was hacked to death by a gang inside a community association building on Thiruneermalai Main Road on Friday afternoon. Anbalagan had two previous murder cases registered against him — in 2009 and 2021 — besides 14 other cases, and was classified as a Category ‘A’ history-sheeter at Sankar Nagar police station. On Friday, Anbalagan reached Thiruneermalai Main Road at 9 am for work and was talking to his associates, Prabhu and Balaji, inside the building, police said. At 1.45 pm, Prabhu and Balaji left the building for lunch.

The deceased, Anbalagan alias Mynakutty, son of Kathirvel, was a resident of KK Nagar and was involved in quarry-related work, including washing and handling gravel. When Prabhu returned, he saw four to five unidentified men entering the building, two of them armed with weapons. As he raised an alarm, one of the men threatened him and chased him away. The gang then attacked Anbalagan and fled in an autorickshaw and a two-wheeler. Anbalagan had been evading the police for the past few months in connection with the cases against him. He had recently been frequenting Thiruneermalai and taking part in local political activities. Additional police personnel have been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.

Police suspect the gang tracked his movements before the attack.

Sankar Nagar police secured the scene for forensic examination. A murder case has been registered, and five special teams have been formed to analyse CCTV footage, identify the suspects, and trace the vehicles used in the crime. Police are also probing the motive, including possible previous enmity.