Two dalit men from the Udayarkulam village in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin were hacked to death by a gang belonging to a different community on Friday night.

The victims have been identified as A Palavesam and his son-in-law Thangaraj. Eleven people belonging to an upper caste community killed the two men in order to settle scores after Palavesam got Shanmugasundaram, belonging to the other community, arrested. According to reports, Shanmugasundaram, a moneylender, had let Palavesam borrow money from him after obtaining his property documents. Palavesam's family has claimed that despite repaying the loan money along with interest, Shanmugasundaram refused to return the property documents, attacked Palavesam and hurled casteist slurs at him. Following the encounter, Palavesam registered a complaint against Shanmugasundaram, who was arrested and booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Angered by the arrest, Shanmugasundaram's brothers and relatives barged into Palavesam's house on Friday night, killing him and his son-in-law Thangaraj.

Three men involved in the case have been arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code while the police are on the lookout for eight other men. Further investigation of the matter is in progress.