Tension prevailed in Udaiyaarkulam near Nazareth in Thoothukudi after two labourers were hacked to death on Friday night allegedly by a gang following a dispute over repayment of loan one of the victims had availed from a moneylender.
The Nazareth police have arrested three persons from nearby Vaidhyalingapuram for murdering A. Palavesam, 60, and his son-in-law Thangaraj, 38, of Udaiyaarkulam and are on the lookout for nine more persons.
Thoothukudi Superintendent of Police Arun Balagopalan, who visited the spot, said the absconders, were directly involved in the crime.
The police said Palavesam, a labourer, had borrowed ₹40,000 from Shanmugasundaram of Vidyalingapuram a year ago after pledging the document of a property. Claiming that he had repaid the principal with interest, Palavesam asked Shanmugasundaram to return the document.
When the moneylender disputed Palavesam’s claim and told him that he had to pay more money, it led to a scuffle between them. Subsequently, Palavesam and Shanmugasundaram filed complaint with the Nazareth police. While Shanmugasundaram was arrested under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act [the victims belonged to the SC] and remanded in judicial custody, Palavesam was not arrested, which agitated the moneylenders’ relatives.
Against this backdrop, Shanmugasundaram’s brothers and few others, all carrying lethal weapons, barged into the hut of Palavesam on Friday night and murdered him and Thangaraj, the police said.
Around 100 policemen have been deployed in Udaiyaarkulam and its surroundings.
