Chennai: Four people of a family in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur were allegedly hacked to death by a gang on Sunday evening, police said.
The deceased have been identified as Senthil Kumar, his brother Mohankumar, their maternal aunt Rathinambal, and their mother Pushpavathy.
According to police, Senthil Kumar, who owned a wholesale rice shop in Kallakinaru near Palladam had questioned a group of men, who were consuming liquor at his vacant plot, which led to an argument.
The men who were in an inebriated state, attacked Senthil with machetes and sickles.
Later his family members including two women tried to rescue him but the gang attacked all of them mercilessly and all four succumbed to injuries.
The Palladam police reached the spot and sent the body of Senthil Kumar for post-mortem examination while the villagers did not allow the bodies of the others to be removed from the spot. They insisted the assailant be arrested immediately.
Police said that they are probing into the motive behind the brutal murders and suspect an old employee of Senthil Kumar, Venkitesan, and his gang, were behind the brutal act.
With inputs from IANS