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CHENNAI: Six men hacked to death a 48-year-old autorickshaw driver in Ayanavaram on Sunday evening, a week after he helped stop a minor’s girl wedding in the locality and two days after the marriage of his 24-year-old daughter. The deceased man, Jebaseelan, was on his way to his daughter’s reception in Minjur when he was murdered, a police officer said. His wife Priscilla, who tried to pull him away to safety, was left with cut injuries to a hand. Police later arrested a man named Mahesh in this connection and launched a hunt for the others.

About a week ago, the officer said, Jebaseelan, who also heads the autodrivers’ association in his neighbourhood, came to know that a minor girl in the area was to be married off to a man named Vinoth alias Ramu of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. Jebaseelan contacted Vinoth and told him that marrying a minor girl was illegal and could land him in jail. The man and his parents, however, ignored it and began preparations for the wedding. The auto driver alerted police. A team arrived and stopped the wedding before taking an undertaking from both sides that the marriage would be held only after the girl completed 18 years of age. Vinoth, however, was furious and decided to take revenge, the officer said.

He came to know that Jebaseelan had got his daughter married at Tirupati two days ago and that the reception was to be held on Sunday evening. “He had planned to murder Jebaseelan on the day of the marriage itself but had to change the plan,” said an investigating officer. On Sunday, Jebaseelan had arranged a van to take his relatives and some of their neghbours to the reception venue and decided to follow them on his bike. Around 7.45pm, as he stepped out with his wife Priscilla, Vinoth and his accomplices surrounded them and fell upon Jebaseelan with machetes and knives. As he fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, the gang members fled. Priscilla, herself injured, cried out. Some of their relatives, who had stayed back, and a few residents of the area rushed to the spot. They took Jebaseelan to a private hospital where doctors declared him dead. The body was later taken to a government hospital for postmortem. Priscilla was taken to the Government Stanley Medical College and Hosptial where she is recovering, police said.

Police made inquiries in the area and found that Jebaseelan frequently advised people in the area and upset many. A week ago, the officer said, a girl, who was his neighbour, fell down drunk in front of his house. Jebaseelan and his wife took the girl home advised her parents. The girl’s parents, who were apparently upset over this, picked up a fight and asked him to mind his own business, the officer added. Police are now looking into whether that family had anything to with the six-member gang that killed Jebaseelan.

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