The incident took place last night when about six masked men entered the house of Dharmraj (60), a retired railway employee, and attacked him and his family members with sticks and rods in an attempt to rob them, Superintendent of Police (SP) Muniraj said.
While Dharmraj died on the spot, his wife Urmila (60), son Akshay (25) and daughter Geetanjali (30) were seriously injured, police said.
An FIR has been registered in the case and the body has been sent for post-mortem, the SP said.