The prime witness in the case relating to the killing of six persons with a speeding lorry was murdered at Indra Colony at Karkudi under Shencottai police station limits on Sunday night.
The police said a five-member armed gang entered the house of V. Hariharan (29), an auto driver, at Indra Colony around 11.30 p.m. on Sunday, and hacked him to death in front of his wife Subbulakshmi.
During investigation, the police found that Hariharan had developed enmity with one Kasi from the same area after he wrested from the latter the right to catch fish in an irrigation tank. As the enmity between the two developed, Kasi’s son Thirumalaikumar allegedly mowed down with a lorry the autorickshaw in which Hariharan’s relatives were travelling on September 10, 2015.
All the six occupants of the autorickshaw were killed. Hariharan, who was following the autorickshaw on a bike, managed to escape.
The police subsequently nabbed Thirumalaikumar and his associates, involved in the gruesome murder.
As Hariharan became the prime witness in the case, the armed gang, including V. Udhayakumar, M. Mahesh, S. Balakrishnan, S. Sangili and M. Nawaz Khan, hacked him to death on Sunday night, the police said.
Shencottai police have registered a case.
