Hyderabad, July 15 -- A 30-year-old man was allegedly hacked to death by five men in Hyderabad's upscale Madhapur area on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday suspecting it to be a hate crime.

The victim, identified as Chinnapalli Bhaskar is from Upparapalli village in Wardhannapet mandal (block) of Warangal district, an officer from the Madhapur police station said.

According to preliminary inquiries, Bhaskar, who worked as a chef at a hotel in Ayyappa Society, had been in a relationship with a woman from the same village.

"However, her family opposed the relationship because they belonged to different castes and married her off to another man about three years ago. However, Bhaskar continued to stalk her...and that led to disputes...