CHENNAI: In a shocking incident, a 37-year-old realtor was hacked to death by a gang in broad daylight before his young daughter’s eyes at Kolathur on Tuesday. With the victim’s father accusing former Villivakkam MLA B Ranganathan of instigating the murder, the police have slapped charges of criminal conspiracy against the DMK leader.Victim S Bhuvaneswaran was returning on his two-wheeler to his house on Third Street in Gandhi Nagar, Kolathur, after picking up his four-year-old daughter from a local school, when an armed gang waylaid him at Kambar Nagar, ACP (Villivakkam) K Kannan told Express. The three-member gang attacked the realtor with knives, inflicting grievous injuries, and a profusely bleeding Bhuvaneswaran died on the spot. On information, Kolathur police recovered the body and sent it to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for autopsy.Soon after the incident, the realtor’s father Siva lodged a police complaint, accusing former MLA B Ranganathan of instigating his son’s murder over a land dispute, the senior police official said. Siva (60) had retired as checking inspector from the State Transport Corporation, he added.In his complaint, the bereaved father stated that he was granted power of attorney by one Madhavan for 30 acres of land at Moorai near Avadi. He had made layouts for 20 acres and sold them during the last five-six years. After undergoing a surgery on his leg due to diabetes, he passed on the real estate business to his son.The ACP said the victim was secretary of Veerapuram New Colony Housing Welfare Association and had filed a number of petitions before several bodies, including the State Human Rights Commission, and RTI queries, protesting against the alleged encroachment by the ex-DMK MLA and his associates of the land. “The victim had claimed that it was not zamindari property but was genuine patta land and had actively campaigned against the encroachment, making a lot of enemies in the process,” the officer said.On July 7, 2011, the realtor also filed a complaint at the Avadi Tank Factory police against Ranganathan and his associates Syed Bhai, Ambrose and Rajendran, alleging that they had threatened him with dire consequences. Hence, the victim’s father claimed that his son had no other enemy and had been murdered solely at the instigation of Ranganathan over the land dispute.Taking cognizance of Siva’s complaint, a case had been registered against the former DMK MLA under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), the ACP said. Besides, a case of murder was also registered under Section 302 and four teams had been formed to nab the killers.Ranganathan and his aide T V Venkatesan alias Gowrishanker were arrested on August 2, 2011, on land grabbing charges, and subsequently booked under the Goondas Act.
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