A 47-year-old real estate businessman was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near a burial ground in Thiruverkadu on Friday (August 1, 2025).

The deceased has been identified as Sivakumar 47, a resident of TDS Nagar in Thiruverkadu. According to the police, every day, Sivakumar would travel to a private school in Paruthipattu to pick up his two daughters and son. As he did not ride a two-wheeler, he usually took an autorickshaw along the same route, which the police believe the killers had been monitoring.

On Friday evening, while on his way to pick up his children from school, he stopped and got down briefly. Then, the unidentified men, who had been follwoing him on a motorbike, allegedly attacked him with machetes and fled the scene. The auto driver also drove away in panic, police sources said.

The police suspect that financial disputes in his real estate dealings may have led to the murder. They have formed special teams, collected CCTV footage, and seized mobile phones of the victim and his wife to trace his final phone calls. Further inquiries are on to identify and arrest the killers.