A gang carrying lethal weapons hacked a youth from another caste and ransacked a few houses and vehicles in broad daylight at busy Vannarpet here on Thursday.

Police said the problem started when a few posters pasted by Hindu Maha Sabha at Vannarpet were found defaced on Thursday morning. Since the youths affiliated to the Hindu outfit suspected that it was the handiwork of families living in the same area, trouble started in the morning in the form of altercations.

Eight persons, carrying sickles and swords, descended on Valayapathi Street in Vannarpet around 1.30 p.m. and attacked the houses , even as women locked the doors of their houses.

As the household articles in one of the houses were being ransacked, M. Sivarama Mani (27) ran to safety since the gang members, with their faces covered with red cloth, were raising slogans against the a particular caste. Even before he could enter his house, the gang hacked him. It also crushed two autorickshaws and three motorcycles parked along the street and ransacked the nearby grocery store. Sivarama Mani was rushed to a hospital, where his condition is said to be critical.

Commissioner of Police Sumit Sharan, who visited the spot along with G.S. Madhavan, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Palayamkottai, said one of the attackers had been nabbed and the others identified.