CHENNAI: A masked man hacked to death a 65-year-old former chief engineer of Chennai Port Trust at his Avadi home on Saturday night, allegedly over a
property dispute
. He also attacked three of his family members, including one of his daughters, who rushed to his rescue. The injured have been hospitalised.
Police, who identified the deceased as Madhavan, said he lived in a house on Thirukkural Main Road in Avadi with his wife Shyamala, 60, daughters Monica, 19, a second-year medical student and Dheekshitha, 12, a Class VII student, and 83-year-old mother Arumugammal.
Around 11pm on Saturday, the family members were watching television in the living room when a man barged in. He had covered his face with a cloth, and repeatedly attacked Madhavan using a machete. His wife, mother and daughter Monica, attempted to stop the attack and cried out for help. But the intruder attacked the trio and managed to escape after confirming that Madhavan was dead.
The family members managed to alert the neighbours and rushed Madhavan to the nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. The Thirumullaivoyal police registered a case of murder and launched a hunt for the suspect.
Madhavan's body was moved to the govt Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) for a postmortem.
After a preliminary investigation, police said that they suspect that the murder could be a fallout of a property dispute or business deals made by Madhavan after his retirement. Further investigations are on.
Members of a special team are checking the call records of the victim to check if there were any threats. Police have also seized footage of a few CCTV cameras in the locality.
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