Thirty-year-old Shanmugam, who helped the main accused in his elder brother’s murder case, rowdy-sheeter Shivakumar (30) alias Rudra, get bail by turning hostile during trail, has been arrested for hacking his brother’s assailant to death.
Sleuths of the organised Crime Wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested Shanmugam along with his six associates from the Maddur bus-stand on Thursday.
A resident of Ramanna Garden on Mysore Road, Shivakumar used to have frequent fights with his neighbour Velu alias Market Velu, also a rowdy-sheeter.
CCB officials said gangs of Velu and Shivakumar had decades-old rivalry.
Last year, the two had a bloody fight over filling water from a public tap during which Shivakumar hacked Velu to death in broad daylight and escaped. Shivakumar was subsequently arrested and remanded in judicial custody. A charge sheet filed by the police named Velu’s family members, including his brother Shanmugam, as eyewitnesses in the case.
Shanmugam, who had planned to avenge his brother’s murder, surprised many by turning hostile during the hearing of the case in the magistrate court, facilitating Shivakumar to come out on bail four months ago, sources in the CCB told The Hindu .
Out on bail, Shivakumar continued to harass Velu’s family. Shivakumar did not allow them to conduct Velu’s death anniversary rituals and instead distributed sweets in the area, enraging the family members. Shanmugam and others in the family hatched a plan to eliminate Shivakumar, the sources said.
As per the plan, Shanmugam along with six of his associates intercepted Shivakumar’s car in Electronics City on December 9 when he was returning home with his girlfriend and hacked him to death in broad daylight, the sources said.
Shanmugam has reportedly confessed to the police that he wanted to avenge the brutal murder of his brother.
