An elderly man was hacked to death at his residence near Oddanchatram by unidentified persons here on Sunday midnight.
The police identified the deceased as S Muthusamy, 78, a farmer hailing from Ambilikkai Polnaickenvalasu near Oddanchatram in Dindigul district.
Muthusamy, a widower, has married off his three daughters who reside in different places. He used to cultivate lemons, drumsticks and tamarind.
The men broke open the roof of the house and hacked Muthusamy to death when he was asleep.
The neighbours who saw him lying dead alerted the police on Monday morning.
Superintendent of Police V R Srinivasan, Deputy Superintendent of Police Murugesan and Inspector Venkatachalam rushed to the spot.
Fingerprint experts and sniffer dogs were brought to conduct investigations.
The body was recovered and sent to Oddanchatram Government Hospital and a post-mortem was conducted said police personnel.
The police said that details about any missing valuable from the house can be ascertained only by his daughters..
