A 37-year-old man, M. Muthukumaran, of Vellaripatti was hacked to death at his farm under Melur police station limits in the small hours of Monday.
Police said that Muthukumaran, who was the south Madurai district secretary of South Indian Forward Bloc, was sleeping in his farm. He was accompanied by his brother-in-law Kodeeswaran.
Suddenly, at around 1 a.m., an armed gang barged into the farm and started attacking them. However, Kodeeswaran escaped from the scene.
The police suspect that some of the friends of Muthukumaran could be behind the murder as the deceased had objected to them using his farm for consuming liquor.
Melur police are on the lookout for the perpetrators of murder.
