The president of Agaram village panchayat near Eral was murdered by an armed gang on Wednesday due to suspected prior enmity.
Police have arrested four persons in this connection.
Police said I. Ponseelan, 45, of Agaram, who is the president of Agaram village panchayat, had gone to the house of panchayat vice-president Thavasikani in Agaram for the banquet hosted by the latter on Wednesday in connection with the temple festival.
When Ponseelan was enjoying the feast, an armed gang entered the house of Thavasikani and hacked him to death on the spot.
Superintendent of Police S. Jayakumar and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Srivaikundam, Venkatesan rushed to the spot and sent the body to Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem.
During investigation, police found that Ponseelan had been cited as an accused in the murder of one Lenin of Agaram in 2017. The enmity between Ponseelan and the family of Lenin worsened when he defeated Lenin’s wife in the village panchayat election.
The enmity intensified further when Ponseelan defeated Lenin’s relative Sebastian in the Thoothukudi – Nazareth CSI Diocesan election held last Monday and this apparently led to his murder.
After the Eral police registered a case in connection with the murder of Ponseelan, a father of four children, special teams were formed to nab the culprits involved in the murder and the neighbouring district police were also alerted.
When a vehicle check was conducted near Seevalaperi in Tirunelveli district, the police picked-up four persons travelling in a car with bloodstains. They were identified as J. Jebasingh Samuel, 30, P. Sebastian, 25, V. Marimuthu, 26, R. Benit, 23, all hailing from Agaram.
The special teams are on the lookout for P. Jegan, S. Ruben and J. Arulraj, also from Agaram.
