Double murder: SC/ST national chief visits Pudukottai village

Pudukottai: Chairman of the national commission for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, Kishor Makwana, visited Avudaiyarkoil in Pudukottai district on Monday where two dalit brothers were hacked to death last month.Makwana visited the village and held discussions with local officials, victims' families, and law enforcement personnel. He was accompanied by central zone IG K Joshi Nirmal Kumar, district collector Aruna, SP Abhishek Gupta and other govt officials. It may be recalled that on the night of July 24, K Kannan, 35, and his younger brother K Karthik, 29, residents of Kamarajar Nagar in Avudaiyarkoil, were hacked to death by an armed gang. The attack occurred when the brothers were chatting near a tank close to their home. The assailants, who arrived on bikes, used machetes to carry out the fatal assault.Six special teams were formed to trace the culprits and so far, sources said eight people have been arrested in connection with the murders. A case was registered under various sections and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Police have maintained that the violence was a fallout of a financial dispute over the sale of a high-end sports bike and not a caste violence though the two killed belonged to the SC community.