Chennai: A cab driver was hacked to death by a five-member gang in the early hours of Tuesday in retaliation for the murder of general secretary of the All India Other Backward Classes (AIBC) Union of Southern Railway J.K.Puthiyavan last year.
According to police, the murdered cab driver has been identified as B Baskar (42) of Balaramapuram in Villivakkam. He is the main accused in the Puthiyavan murder on February 09, 2018.
At around 12: 30 am on Tuesday when Baskar was heading home from work, he was intercepted by an armed five-member gang near the Balaramapuram government ration shop. They allegedly used a spray on him, continuously stabbed him with knives on his neck and hand and fled the spot after people started to gather,” said a police officer.
Residents who witnessed the scene said that they alerted Villivakkam police and an ambulance. However before officials could reach the spot, Baskar died. Police shifted his body to the Kilpauk government hospital for post-mortem.
Based on a complaint by Baskar's wife Revathy, Villivakkam police registered a case and formed special teams to nab the gang members. Police said they have recovered a knife just a few meters away from the crime spot. After preliminary investigations police identified one of the gang members as Subash, who is the brother-in-law of Puthiyavan.
Case recall :
It may be recalled that Puthiyavan, the general secretary of the All India Other Backward Classes (AIBC) Union of the Southern Railway who worked in the mechanical department of the ICF, was reportedly murdered by two men after a heated argument between them on Chennai Batten Road on February 9, 2018.
During investigation, police found that Bhaskar had worked as a driver for Puthiyavan for more than five years. There was some misunderstanding between them and Bhaskar quit. Baskar's family claimed that Puthiyavan had taken money from the family and had promised to get Bhaskar's brother a job. However, Puthiyavan neither returned the money nor got him a job.
Police arrested and remanded Baskar and his associates in the Puthiyavan murder case and the gang came out on bail recently.
