An Inspector of Police, Soorakumaran, opened fire after an armed gang went on a ransacking spree in Kamarajapuram under Keeraithurai police station limits in Madurai on Thursday night.
However, no one was injured, the police said.
The police have picked up three persons in this connection.
The police said that the gang, led by S. Kalimuthu, attacked the house of former DMK zonal chairperson of Madurai Corporation, V.K. Gurusamy, on NMR Road.
After damaging the window glass panes of the house that remained locked, they smashed the windscreens of two vehicles parked outside his house.
The armed members also damaged a showcase of a petty shop near his house. The incident occurred at around 9.45 p.m.
Later, they started smashing vehicles parked on the road.
They intercepted an autorickshaw passing through the spot and smashed its windscreens and also assaulted the driver, Nagaraj. He sustained cut injuries on his hands and head.
Meanwhile, as the Keeraithurai police arrived at the spot, the gang attempted to flee.
As they were caught in a dead-end the members, numbering around eight, scaled the terrace of a house in their attempt to escape.
The police said that the Inspector, Soorakumaran, opened three rounds of from his service pistol.
The police team managed to nab three persons, Mohan and Udhayakumar of Villapuram and young polytechnic student.
Police said that a gang war between Gurusamy and a former AIADMK zonal chairperson, Rajapandi, led to the attack. It has led to at least eight murders here in the last few years.
