Chennai: A DMK ward member of village panchayat in Padappai in Kancheepuram district was hacked to death inside the CSI Church hall in David Nagar on Sunday when the service was on.
Manimangalam police identified the deceased as G. Dhanasekharan, a resident of Periyar Nagar. He was also the DMK youth wing secretary in Padappai while also representing ward number 6.
Dhanasekharan, a member of St Devasabha, a Pentecost church, had come out of his church to attend a phone call around 11.30 am when a gang surrounded him.
Sensing trouble, he ran to a CSI church in the same neighbourhood where the service was going on. The assailants followed him into the church and hacked him to death in full public view.
“It looks like he decided not to go to his church because his wife Daisy and sons Isaac (5) and Jacob (3) were inside,” police noted. Immediately after killing Dhanasekharan, the suspects escaped from the scene on bikes.
Police said Dhanasekharan was planning to file his nomination to contest again from the ward on Monday. He was into sand and real estate businesses.
His body was shifted for post-mortem to Pallavaram GH. Police said they were conducting enquiries to find out if he had any business rivalry with anyone in the area. “It appears the killers wanted to stop him from filing nomination for ward election on Monday,” police added.
