Chennai: AIADMK functionary murdered in daylight

Chennai: In a daylight murder, an AIADMK functionary was hacked at his office in Pammal by 6 members of a gang who had covered their faces with masks, around noon on Thursday.

The entire episode of hacking was recorded in the CCTV cameras installed in the office.

Supporters of the deceased resorted to a road roko later in the day near Kathipara Grade separator demanding immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the crime.  The deceased, Abu Sali (35), a native of Nellai who was a resident of Pallavaram, was running a scrap business and had his office in Nagalkeni where he was murdered.

“Six people came in 3 bikes at around 11.45 am when Abu Sali and a woman employee were present. Four men, who had masks on, stormed into the shop and chased away the woman aide. They then hacked Abu Sali multiple times until he collapsed. They washed their machetes in the office sink and then rode away on their bikes. Abu Sali passed away before help from 108 ambulance arranged by the neighbours could arrive,” said a senior police official.

Cops from Shankar Nagar, Pallavaram and Chromepet rushed to the scene since the location falls bordering areas of the police station. The CCTV records from the front façade could not pick up the vehicle numbers since the assailants had covered the registration numbers with muck.

The deceased was the organiser of the minority unit of AIADMK—Pammal (urban). Preliminary investigations revealed the deceased as the nephew of Mohammed Ali, a businessman who was kidnapped from Pallavaram last month for a ransom of Rs 2 crore.

The deceased played an active role in pursuing a complaint which led to the arrest of Syed Mohamed Ali aka Rafiq (54), a history-sheeter. “We are pursuing all aspects including previous enmity arising out of the busting of the kidnapping racket. The modus operandi suggests the role of a hired hit squad,” a police source revealed.