A clerk of Idayapatti panchayat, S. Lakshmanan, 52, was hacked to death on Varichiyur-Thachchanendal Road under Karuppayoorani police station limits on Thursday.
The police said that Lakshmanan, who was riding a motorbike, was waylaid by an armed gang that attacked him at 6 a.m. He died on the spot.
Oomachikulam Deputy Superintendent of Police, A. Godwin Jagadeesh Kumar, said Lakshmanan was also a priest at a Kaliamman temple. His relatives had a grudge against him for not allowing them to get the "first respect" at the temple. Local people had pacified them over the issue.
