A clerk of Idayapatti panchayat, S. Lakshmanan, 52, was hacked to death on Varichiyur-Thachchanendal Road under Karuppayoorani police station limits on Thursday.
The police said that Lakshmanan, who was riding a motorbike, was waylaid by an armed gang that attacked him at 6 a.m. He died on the spot.
Oomachikulam Deputy Superintendent of Police, A. Godwin Jagadeesh Kumar, said Lakshmanan was also a priest at a Kaliamman temple. His relatives had a grudge against him for not allowing them to get the "first respect" at the temple. Local people had pacified them over the issue.
The police have picked three suspects for the murder and are interrogating them.
