A 22-year-old man was killed in a knife attack in broad daylight on Indira Nagar Main Road in Chennai's Adyar on Tuesday morning, minutes after he had signed his bail register at the Mylapore police station, police said. The victim, identified as Maithreyan, was travelling home in an autorickshaw with his father when a gang blocked their path near a water tank, attacked him with knives, chased him as he tried to flee and fatally wounded him before escaping.

Source: Mirror Now

Maithreyan was taken to a private hospital in Taramani, where doctors declared him dead. His body was later moved to the Government Royapettah Hospital for a postmortem examination. Police said the victim was a C-category history-sheeter from Mylapore who had recently moved to Thiruvanmiyur and was facing multiple criminal cases, including a case of attempt to murder, and had been out on bail with a condition to sign in at the police station.

Three arrested; attack video posted online, police say

Forensic teams processed the scene and investigators reviewed CCTV footage from the area. The Adyar police registered a case and arrested three suspects — Jeeva, Surya and Vignesh, all aged 19 — in connection with the murder, police said. According to the police account, the suspects had posted a video documenting the attack on social media, which authorities have since removed. Tamil news channel NewsJ also reported that a video linked to the accused had gone viral.

Source: NewsJ

Police said they suspect the killing grew out of a long-standing rivalry linked to the death of one of Maithreyan's close friends, Susai, who was killed in November last year. Investigators suspect — an allegation that remains to be tested in court — that the main accused, Jeeva, feared Maithreyan was planning to retaliate for that death. Police inquiries are continuing.

Tension briefly rose outside the Government Royapettah Hospital as family members of the deceased protested, saying they were initially not allowed to see the body. Police officials told the family the delay was due to the procedure required to transfer the body from the private hospital where he was first taken; the family dispersed after the explanation, reports said.