Man chased, hacked to death in broad daylight

COIMBATORE: An alleged gang war spilled out onto the streets of Coimbatore on Thursday, when a 42-year old man was chased and hacked to death in broad daylight.Police suspect that the victim, R Somasundaram, was an associate of history-sheeter, ‘Muttai’ Ravi, who was allegedly gunned down in a police encounter at Tiruchy in October 2006. Police believe that Somasundaram was killed by Ravi’s gang members as they suspected his hand in the encounter on October 2006.According to eyewitnesses, around 8 am, Somasundaram, who was living in a rented house along with one Mohan at Ganapathy Nagar, SIHS Colony near Ondipudur, came out to have tea at a bakery near the SIHS Railway gate when the incident occurred.“The gang members arrived in a Scorpio, armed with sickles. We were terrified to see a man being chased by the gang. The victim ran and was screaming for help. At one point, he tripped and fell into a trench dug up for building underground sewers. Immediately, the gang surrounded him and attacked him with sickles before escaping in the jeep,” recalled Ravi Krishnan, an eyewitness. Somasundaram, who suffered at least three deep cuts, died on the spot.A police officer said, “Ever since Ravi was eliminated, Somasundaram had severed his links with the other gang members. We strongly suspect that fellow gang members were involved in this incident as they believed that he had only tipped off the police about Ravi’s location on the fateful day.” Interestingly, Somasundaram’s name never figured in the police records, leading to the suspicion that he was only a ‘shadow’ member of the notorious gang.The police were trying to trace the Scorpio used in the crime, based on the vehicle’s number passed on to them by eyewitnesses.  However, preliminary investigations revealed that the number plate was fake.“We have got some clues about the gang and have formed two special teams to nab them,” said City Police Commissioner Amaresh Pujari.Meanwhile, Mohan, with whom the victim was staying, had gone underground and the cops were trying to track him down.