Chennai: Unidentified men allegedly shot dead three persons Wednesday who were traveling towards Eluru in a car on the Chennai-Kolkata national highway, police said.

 According to Police Commissioner A B Venkateswara Rao, the miscreants first rammed their vehicle into the moving car and then opened fire. Out of the three victims, two died on the spot. The third man succumbed on his way to the hospital. The victims have been identified as G Maraiah, P Maraiah and G Nageswara Rao.

 According to the police, the deceased were accused in the murder case of Durga Rao, who was killed on March 4. The trio belonged to the same village. Hence police suspects their attackers to be hired killer, employed to avenge Rao's death.

 The investigation however is going on.