DMK ward councilor hacked to death near Trichy

Trichy: A 38-year-old DMK member and Koothappar town panchayat ward councilor was hacked to death by an armed gang near Trichy on Monday night. Police suspect business rivalry as a possible motive behind the killing.Police said the deceased, A Ranjith Kumar from Bharathipuram in Koothappar near Thiruverumbur, runs a bar attached to a Tasmac shop in Thiruverumbur. He was the councillor for ward 11 of Koothappar town panchayat and the youth wing secretary of DMK in Thiruverumbur.Police said Ranjith was returning home on his two-wheeler around 10pm on Monday, when the gang waylaid him at Puthu Theru near Navalpattu and hacked him with sharp weapons. The assailants then fled the spot. Ranjith Kumar died on the spot, police said.Upon receiving information, the Navalpattu police reached the spot and began an investigation. They sent the body to Trichy GH for postmortem. District superintendent of police S Selva Nagarathinam and other officials visited the crime scene and oversaw the initial investigation. Special teams were formed to nab the perpetrators.Police registered a case under Section 101 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder. On Tuesday, police detained a few people and are questioning them.