Assailants crash car into AIADMK worker’s bike, then hack him to death in Cuddalore

Police say not a political killing, likely linked to an earlier murder case

Padmanabhan’s body has been sent for a postmortem.

An AIADMK worker from Thirupapuliyur in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore was hacked to death near the Puducherry border early Sunday morning. Police said that according to their initial probe, there was no political angle to the murder.

Initial reports suggested that Padmanabhan was riding a two-wheeler, when the assailants rammed their four-wheeler into it, before hacking him to death.

Police said Padmanabhan had a murder case pending against him, and that his murder was likely linked to it.

Last September, in the Thirupathiripuliyur police jurisdiction, Padmanabhan was alleged to have been involved in the murder of Bhaskar, a 34-year-old man from Navaneeth Nagar. Padmanabhan, the third accused in the case, was arrested and subsequently released on bail.

On Saturday night, Padmanabhan, also known as Bhakta, watched the Karagattam (ancient folk dance) performance with two of his friends at the Thiruppanambakkam Mariamman Temple festival in Cuddalore. He was on his way back early on Sunday morning when he was attacked.

Police said relatives of Bhaskar followed Padmanabhan’s two-wheeler in a car. They caught up with him at Irulan Sandhai, within the jurisdiction of Bahour police station in Puducherry, and allegedly stabbed him to death.

Padmanabhan’s body has been sent for a postmortem.

Some suspects have been detained. Multiple teams are searching for the accused.

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