The Tambaram City Police have arrested seven persons, including two juveniles, for the murder of two gaana singers.

The victims, Bharath, 25, and Seenu alias Srinivasan, 24, both from Varadharajapuram near Padappai, were murdered inside their friend Lokesh’s house at Ammanambakkam near Chengalpattu town.

The police said the singers had returned after performing at a concert near Padappai and stayed overnight at Lokesh’s house, where he lived with his family, including his father Mohan, 45. The gang arrived on three two-wheelers wearing helmets and masks, broke open the door, and stormed into the house. The attackers initially targeted Lokesh, who escaped after raising an alarm. Mohan sustained injuries while trying to intervene.

The gang then attacked Bharath and Seenu with sickles and machetes and fled the spot. The Manimangalam police moved the bodies to the Tambaram Government Hospital for a post-mortem.

On the orders of Tambaram City Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, a special team launched an investigation and arrested Kumaravel alias Potti, 20, of Mudichur, D. Santhosh, 23, of Ammanambakkam, K. Kalaiselvam alias Anbu, 20, of New Perungalathur, Ayyappan alias Mani, 26, of Pallavaram, Vealan, 19, of Old Perungalathur, and two juveniles aged 16 and 17.

Investigations revealed that Bharath was previously associated with the prime accused Kumaravel and allegedly threatened and assaulted some of Kumaravel’s friends. The police said Bharath later decided to target Kumaravel and repeatedly pressured one of the juveniles to share information about his movements, allegedly threatening to kill him if he refused.

The police said Bharath had visited the juvenile’s house a day before the incident and allegedly issued more death threats. After learning about this, Kumaravel and his associates allegedly planned the attack and went to Lokesh’s house knowing Bharath was staying there.