A 48-year-old DMK functionary was hacked to death near Anna Nagar police station on Wednesday evening and four men surrendered at the police station a few hours later.

The deceased Sampath Kumar of TP Chathiram, who delivers water cans in the locality, was riding his bike via Anna Nagar police station when a group of men intercepted him in an autorickshaw. They surrounded Sampath Kumar and hacked him several times with machetes, before fleeing the spot.

Sampath Kumar died on the spot and Anna Nagar police rushed to the spot after being alerted by passers-by. Sampath Kumar's body was sent for post-mortem and a hunt was been launched for the suspects.

Meanwhile, four youths accompanied by a lawyer surrendered before Anna Nagar Assistant Commissioner Augustin Sudhakar Paul late on Wednesday night.

They were identified as Harikumar (21) of Kilpauk, A Sridhar (21) of TP Chathiram, H Mohanavel (21) of TP Chathiram, and R Naveen Kumar (25) of Shenoy Nagar.

Investigation revealed that Sampath Kumar allegedly lodged a fabricated complaint against Hari Kumar's father and elder brother and put them behind bars seven months ago and had been harassing Hari Kumar to peddle ganja in the locality. Unable to face the harassment, Hari Kumar along with his friends hacked Sampath Kumar to death and surrendered at the police station. A hunt has been launched for three more suspects and further investigation is on.