The Chennai city police arrested five history-sheeters, three of whom were once associates of gangster Binu Pappachan. The other two suspects had been hired to attack a policeman.
Following the arrest of 75 history-sheeters who had gathered to celebrate the birthday of Binu, Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan ordered a crack-down on criminals.
On Saturday evening, the police nabbed Appunu, Kutti alias Kuttivalavan and Allaudin. They were arrested to pre-empt revenge attacks, the police said.
Allaudin or ‘Sketch’ Allaudin, is a suspect in four cases of murder. He also has nearly 30 other cases against him on various counts, such as robbery and extortion. Kutti is involved in two murder cases and a robbery. Appunu has many extortion cases against him, the police said.
“All of them were once associates of Binu. They subsequently switched over to the camp of his rival Radhakrishnan and then, to another gang,” said a police officer. The three have been remanded in judicial custody.
Attack planned
The men, who were arrested for planning an attack on policemen, were from Palayamkottai.
They were hired to attack Kadirvelu, who works as a head constable.
His wife, Valarmathi, who was a head constable, who took voluntary retirement from service many years ago.
They have a son, Vivek, who works as a salesman.
Kadirvelu lives separately from the family and this angered Vivek.
“He used to discuss the issue with his friend Sudhakar, a Chennai Corporation health supervisor. Sudhakar contacted two history-sheeters — Selvakumar, 27, and Jose Lodus, 28 — from Palayamkottai,” said a senior police officer.
Their plan was to intimidate Kadirvelu. They were planning to ram his bike with a car and injure him.
“We got a tip-off and nabbed the two history-sheeters near Avadi. During interrogation, they revealed the role of Sudhakar and Vivek. They have been remanded,” said an officer.
