: Tension Prevailed in nearby Athur and Mukkani areas after a youth was murdered by a gang, which reportedly included a Panchayat president at a spot near Athur in this district.
Police said there was wordy duel between the youth and a 16-year-old boy after the cricket ball the latter was playing with hit him.
Late last night when he was walking down the road, five persons, including the panchayat president, accosted him and hacked him to death.
As news about the murder spread, his relatives went to the house of the panchayat president and set ablaze his car, two lorries and five motor bikes ablaze
Top police officials rushed to the spot, seized the body and sent it for post mortem.
Armed police have been posted in the area as a precautionary measure.
The deceased youth was once a member of a gang led by the panchayat president, but had left it and decided to earn his living as a farm labourer, police said.
