In an apparent retaliation to the gruesome murder of a farmhand on Monday night, a farmer was beheaded at Gopalasamudram near here on Wednesday morning.
Since the area has witnessed the second beheading within 36 hours, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Tirunevleli Range) Praveen Kumar Abinapu and Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan visited the spot and deployed police personnel in and around Gopalasamudram and also nearby Keezha Seval and Sengulam Colony.
The police said an armed gang waylaid and hacked to death farmer A. Mariappan, 32, of Gopalasamudram when he was crossing Sengulam tank around 5.30 a.m. Then, the gang chopped off his left leg and the head. While the trunk and the sliced leg were lying near the irrigation tank, the assailants took the head for about 4 km and placed it at the spot where the farmhand Sankarasubramanian was beheaded.
During investigation, the police found that one Manthiram of Gopalasamudram was murdered in November 2013 by a group of people belonging to another caste. Subsequently, the assailants were nabbed. Since the relatives of Manthiram believed that Sankarasubramanian was helping the murderers, he was murdered and his head was placed at the grave of Manthiram.
In retaliation, Mariappan, an accused in another murder case registered in 2014, has been killed and his head was placed at the spot where Sankarasubramanian was murdered on Monday night.
Munneerpallam police have registered a case in this connection.
