MADURAI: If the murder of Sullan Madhan, a 25-year-old history sheeter in Sivaganga on Sunday sparked tension, what was more shocking for police was a series of posts on social media over the past two days ‘celebrating’ the murder and an equal number of posts warning of revenge.“Kolaigal thodarum, thalaigal urulum” (Murders will continue, heads will roll), declared a post on Instagram. Another warned, “Viraivil anaithu thalaigal sitharum” (Soon, all heads will be shattered).A video attributed to a proclaimed supporter of Madhan said, “Inime thaan sambavam start” (The action starts only now). There are around a dozen social media pages dedicated to Madhan. One of the pages had also posted the pictures of three suspects in his murder with a warning.Such social media posts and short videos have become part of the modus operandi of a group of rural youth in Sivaganga since 2021 after the murder of an advocate called Agniraj. Agniraj was an accused in the murder of a person named Munees in 2019. Soon after Agniraj’s murder, his friends started an Instagram page called “Agni Brothers,” where death threats were first posted.Since then there has been a series of murders each preceded by threat videos on Instagram. In the subsequent years, four suspects in the Agniraj murder were tracked down and killed after threats were issued on social media.Though Madhan was accused in 13 cases including murder and attempt to murder, he was not linked to the Agniraj case. What links him though was the Instagram threats before and after the murders. Soon after he was accused of a double murder due to a quarrel during jallikattu in 2024, posts sprung up threatening to kill him.After his murder, now a post from his rival group said, “Part one over, part two next,” an apparent reference to his friend who was a co-accused in the double murder. The group had also posted pictures of the body of Mathan as a “trophy” with the caption “Game over.”A police officer said the double murder of brothers Jayasurya and Subash was planned on Instagram using a woman’s phone. The followers of the account share information about the targets. Madhan dressed as an advocate sneaked into a court and surrendered for the murder. It was when he came out on bail in this case on Oct 7 that he was murdered. Police said 11 assailants chased him into a sugarcane field near Okkur on Oct 18 and attacked him. Police arrested Pradeep, Balamurugan and Babu within 12 hours and formed six teams to trace the others.Now police are cracking down on social media accounts amid rising tension in Sivaganga.The Sivaganga police said they have suspended 20 Instagram accounts and one Facebook account on Tuesday which posted death threats after Madhan’s murder. “We have suspended 36 such social media accounts over the past two days and booked two cases,” said a statement.
