THANJAVUR: An advocate and his friend were hacked to death by an unidentified gang near Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu on Monday night.
The deceased have been identified as P Kamaraj, 45, of Claret Nagar in Kumbakonam and his friend C Sakthivel, 40, of the same area.
Kamaraj, who was an advocate, was returning home on a two-wheeler from a private hospital along with his father. His father was unwell. While they were nearing Claret Nagar, an unidentified gang intercepted Kamaraj and started assaulting him. He died on the spot.
Kamaraj's father escaped unhurt.
Following this attack, the gang went to Kamaraj house and attacked his friend Sakthivel, who was there in the house.
Sakthivel died on the spot.
The Nachiyarkoil police rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies and sent them to the Kumbakonam Government Hospital for postmortem.
A police officer said Kamaraj was the Thanjavur district president of Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (advocate wing) and Rajavelu was a functionary of Bahujan Samaj Party.
Police suspect that the reason behind the murder might be a property dispute that Kamaraj's father had with his relative Rajavelu.
Special teams have been formed to nab the murderers.