A 28-year old man was brutally killed in broad daylight on a busy road in Hyderabad on Wednesday by two people who hacked him with an axe, in a suspected revenge attack, with videos of the shocking incident going viral.
Though a traffic police constable and some locals tried in vain to save the victim, later identified as Ramesh, the two assailants continued to attack him, leading to his death on the spot at Attapur area here, police said.
The two were nabbed by police.
Police said they suspected it to be a revenge killing as Ramesh was the prime accused in the murder of Mahesh, son of one of the assailants, in December 2017 in Hyderabad.
He was returning home after attending a court hearing when he was attacked allegedly by Mahesh's father and uncle.
Videos of the incident shot by onlookers using mobile phones, went viral, evoking outrage.
"The incident occurred between 11.30 am and 11.45 am when two people attacked Ramesh and killed him," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shamshabad Zone) N Prakash Reddy told PTI.
Based on preliminary investigation, the senior police official said the assailant duo has been identified as Kishan and Laxman, who were allegedly drunk at the time of the incident and seemed to be in 'revenge mode'.
Asked about some footage showing a police vehicle driving away from the spot with the victim lying on the road and two assailants standing beside him, the deputy commissioner of police said the police vehicle with personnel in civil dress was stuck in the traffic jam and had moved away on the other side of the road.
"The policemen then caught hold of the duo who are being questioned", the DCP said.
Videos show the victim being pushed and chased and while fleeing even as he falls down on the road.
The DCP further said Ramesh was followed by the duo, for a distance of 200 metres before being attacked.
Ramesh had killed Mahesh over an alleged illicit affair involving a woman.
Photograph: A screengrab from the video going viral on social media.
