Tamil Nadu: Five held for murder of CPI man at Needamangalam

TIRUVARUR: Special police teams on Thursday arrested five people in connection with the murder of CPI Needamangalam union secretary Nadesa Thamizharvan at Needamangalam town in Tiruvarur district.
Thamizharvan, a resident of Olimathi village, was hacked to death by a gang on Wednesday evening, while he was stepping out of his car at Needamangalam bazaar. The arrest comes within 24 hours after the occurrence of the crime.
Police identified the accused as R Rajkumar, 33, J Manoj, 23, both natives of Agrahara Poovanur, M Madhavan, 23, of Surakudi Street in Padagacheri, B Sena alias Senapathi, 25, and A Ezhilarasan, 22, both from Thenpathi Street in Araiyur.
During the investigation, it came to light that previous enmity between Thamizharvan and prime suspect Rajkumar was the reason for the murder.
Rajkumar, a rogue, has criminal cases pending against him at Needamangalam police station. He was in prison in connection with a case and has come out on bail recently, police said.
Rajkumar had a scuffle with one of his close relatives of the same village recently. Thamizharvan intervened in the issue and had taken the matter to Needamangalam police in support of the former’s relative.
Based on the complaint, police had arrested Rajkumar along with his brother. Angered by the incident, Rajkumar had warned Thamizharvan of dire consequences, police said. Rajkumar came out on bail recently and executed the crime along with his accomplices.
Following the incident, relatives and supporters of Thamizharvan damaged the windshields of a government bus and vandalized a few two-wheelers parked at Needamangalam forcing the traders to shut their shops on Wednesday.
To avert any untoward incidents, around 800 police personnel have been deployed in and around Needamangaam bazaar since Wednesday.