Relatives engaged in a protest on the Madurai - Rameswaram four-lane road condemning the hacking to death of a youth near Thiruppuvanam in the district on Friday.

Vivek, 33, a resident of Thattankulam near Thiruppuvanam, was working at a private finance company in Madurai.

In this situation, in the early hours of May 4, three individuals, including Muthuramu, 22, from Maranadu, attempted to steal a two-wheeler parked in front of his house.

Seeing this, Vivek and his relatives caught Muthuramu and handed him over to the police. While the other two escaped, the Thiruppuvanam police registered a case and arrested Muthuramu.

Under these circumstances, on Thursday night, Vivek and his friends Naveen, 22, and Mayilraj, 22, were sitting and talking on a canal bridge near the Vaigai river in Thattankulam.

At that time, four individuals who arrived on two two-wheelers hacked Vivek to death. Naveen and Mayilraj, who tried to prevent it, were injured. Based on a complaint by Vivek’s father, the Thiruppuvanam police are currently investigating.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the murder took place due to prior enmity over catching and handing over the person involved in the two-wheeler theft to the police.

Meanwhile, condemning the murder of Vivek, his relatives staged a road blockade on the Madurai-Rameswaram four-lane road.

Superintendent of Police R. Shiva Prasad, Manamadurai DSP Raja, and Thiruppuvanam Tahsildar Anandhaboopalan, who arrived there, held talks with the protesters.

At that time, they insisted that the criminals should be arrested quickly and imprisoned under the Goondas Act.

Relief assistance and a government job should be provided to the family of the deceased. They dispersed after the police assured them that appropriate action would be taken.

Since the protest took place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., traffic was severely affected in the region.