Chennai: It was business-as-usual at a Tasmac liquor shop on Sathyamoorthy Nagar Main Road at Vyasarpadi soon after a 45-year-old Dalit advocate was hacked to death by a four-member gang in full public view when he was riding home on Wednesday morning. There was tension as the kin staged a road roko demanding immediate arrest of the accused. The police pacified them that action would be taken.
The advocate T. Ravi, (45), a resident of Arumuga Pillai street, off New Magazine Road, Vyasarpadi, was intercepted by the gang that came in two bikes on Sathyamoorthy Nagar Main Road around 10 am. Realising the danger, Ravi ran for his life leaving behind his scooter. However, the gang pinned him down near Ambedkar statue, hacked him, and fled the scene.
“We heard that Ravi was in a fight. We rushed to the street only to find him dead lying in a pool of blood. Some of his fingers were gathered a few feet away from where he had collapsed,” Kamal, a nephew of the deceased, told DC.
“This is not the first incident, and it is the fourth incident of violence. Nothing was done to prevent it,” he said. Shopkeepers on New Magazine Road downed shutters fearing violence as the crowd in support of Ravi began swelling.
As police rushed to the scene, the kith and kin took to the streets and blocked traffic on Sathyamoorthy Nagar Main Road. The protesters charged that the police did not do much to avert the murder.
Ravi, who was initially associated with CPI, joined Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, and later Puratchi Bharatham, before he went on to float Jananayaga Puratchi Munnani (Democratic Revolutionary Front), and is a heavyweight in the locality. Police said Ravi's approach had its effects on elders of SM Nagar and they would turn only to him when fledglings indulged in offences.
Last year, Ravi stormed Vyasarpadi police station and assaulted a Youth Brigade member Dinesh, and was booked for the same. He was also booked for criminal trespass into a property at Madhavaram in his client’s favour.
