Minister’s cousin hacked to death

Chennai: In a daylight murder, a 46-year-old man, who is a cousin of state minister B.V. Ramana, was hacked to death in a village in neighbouring Tiruvallur district.

J. Ravi, a resident of Perumalpattu, had reached his home for lunch around 2.45 pm when a five-member gang surrounded him and hacked him to death, the police said. He died on the spot while the mercenaries escaped on bikes.

Ravi’s murder took place as his father Jayaraman watched helplessly from his cement shop nearby. Jayaraman is the leader of the traders body there and uncle of minister Ramana.

The Tiruvallur police claimed that they had formed special teams to investigate the murder and district superintendent of police A. Saravanan visited the murder spot.

“Ravi was running a hardware shop and besides this he was involved in real estate business. It looks like a real estate deal had triggered his murder. He was trying to buy two acres in the village which was opposed by a few persons who were also interested in the land,” said a police officer.

Ravi had recently lodged a complaint at the Sevvapet police station alleging that he had received a threat letter asking him to keep off from buying the property.

The angle of conflict in the real estate business is also being examined. We will get a clear picture about the motive only after we complete the probe, the police said.