A history-sheeter from Tuticorin was arrested on Friday in connection with a shootout at Krishna Nagar in Maduravoyal on Tuesday.
The man who had spent the past couple of years as an actor, film producer and politician in Maduravoyal injured a small-time realtor. His country-made pistol and bullets were also seized.
Police identified the suspect as Anthony (33), currently a resident of Krishna Nagar, Maduravoyal. He was an accomplice of notorious gangster ‘Rocket’ Raja and involved in many cases in Tuticorin.
Anthony left his home turf and came to Chennai over a decade ago and turned a realtor, financer and also produced a couple of Tamil movies in which he played cameos.
On the night of the incident, the victim Mani Kumar, also from Tuticorin and a resident of Krishna Nagar, had an altercation with Anthony while in an inebriated state. “The accused and the victim did not know each other but Anthony had an argument with Mani after the latter created a ruckus in the neighbourhood under the influence of alcohol. An enraged Anthony then rushed to his house and returned with his pistol and shot Mani,” said V.A. Ravikumar, Joint Commissioner of Police, West (in-charge).
Anthony’s pistol fired only one shot despite his trying five times. The shot hit Mani’s stomach and he fell on the ground and began bleeding profusely. Anthony fled the scene, the officer added.
Special teams formed under Prem Anand Sinha, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Nagar, tracked down Anthony and apprehended him in Poonamallee early on Friday while he was attempting to flee to Bangalore.
Following his confession, police recovered the pistol from a garbage bin in Nanganallur.
Anthony had obtained the pistol and bullets from ‘Rocket’ Raja while he accompanied him for a kidnapping in 2006, police sources added.
