A farmer in his mid-fifties was hacked to death allegedly by his own brother at Gandhipuram near Uppiliapuram in the late hours on Tuesday.
The victim, M. Subramanian, was returning home when he was intercepted and attacked with sharp weapons allegedly by his younger brother M. Ganesan (52) and his son G. Raja (32) causing death on the spot. Land dispute was the motive behind the killing, said the police.
While Ganesan was arrested immediately, police are still on the lookout for Raja.
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Tuesday’s murder is yet another case of a grave offence committed due to land / property dispute. Family quarrel, however, remains the motive behind most murders in central zone this year.
According to police statistics, of the 268 murders reported from January to November in eight districts falling under the zone, the motive behind 73 of them was “family quarrel”.
“Previous enmity” was the motive behind 46 murders, while “love affair” was the reason behind 38 others. The police have categorised motives behind murders under various heads that includes gain, business rivalry, land / property dispute, petty / wordy quarrel, money transaction, family quarrel, political, drunken brawl, love affair, and ‘other causes’.
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Thanjavur district topped the zone in the number of murders reported in the last 11 months with the figure being 53 followed by Nagapattinam district with 50 murders. Tiruchi district witnessed 48 murders; Pudukottai district recorded 40 murders; 31 in Tiruvarur district; 19 in Karur; 15 in Ariyalur; and 12 in Perambalur district.
“Petty / wordy quarrel” was the cause behind 28 murders and in 23 other cases the motive was land / property dispute.
One-third of the 15 murder-for-gain cases reported were in Tiruchi district. In these cases, the accused decamped with property after committing the crime. There were murders where investigators could not establish reason, while a few more were committed due to “other causes”, as per police records.