The victims were identified as Shanmugathai (45), wife of Arunachalam and Shanthi (42), wife of Subbiah, sources said. The gruesome incident, which occurred around noon, Shanmugathai, was beheaded by a gang of ten men, mostly masked, sources revealed. Tirunelveli Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan and Nanguneri Deputy Superintendent of Police Lisha Stebila Theras inspected the scene of crime and held inquiries.

According to the DSP, the double murder were fall out of enmity between two families over the brutal murder of A. Nambirajan (21) on November 25, 2019, who had eloped with lover Vaanmathi. This led to revenge killing leading to murder of Vaanmathi’s kin Arumugam (50) and his nephew Suresh (30) on March 13, this year.

The mutilated head of Shanmugathai was recovered near the crime spot. Around six to seven unused petrol packets were also found at the scene of crime, where a machete was also recovered. Special teams have been formed to nab the accused, the DSP said.