The death of 40-year-old DMK functionary and former rowdy Mangaleri Kandhan was caused by a bullet fired from a country-made pistol near the Thiruvanmiyur market on Thursday evening, the medical report has established.
The shooter, an associate of late gangster Dindigul Pandi, was arrested on Monday and the murder weapon and two bullets were seized.
In Chennai, a murder involving a gang shootout comes 13 years after Katta Durai Thevar was shot in a phone booth in Egmore in February 2001.
The brutal murder took place around 5.15 p.m. on Thursday near the Valmiki temple in Thiruvanmiyur. The three suspects waited for Kandhan to leave his house in Mangaleri and head to his broiler shop on East Coast Road. While one of the suspects shot Kandhan point blank, the other two hacked him, in full public view. Sources with the Government Royapettah Hospital revealed the bullet, which pierced the heart, is believed to have been the primary cause of death.
Adyar police sources identified the shooter as Kavi alias Kaviarasan (35), a realtor from Ambedkar Nagar in Ambattur Industrial Estate, a close aide of Dindigul Pandi who was shot dead by the city police in February 2010. In 2009, Kaviarasan is believed to have received the pistol used to commit the murder, a country-made replica of 9 mm, from Pandi who procured it from Bihar.
Adyar Siva, another of Pandi’s trusted henchmen, was allegedly murdered in mid-2009 by then rival Kandhan, in Kotturpuram. Sources revealed Siva’s brother, Velu, had met Kaviarasan recently and lamented about Kandhan going scot free.
Following this, Kaviarasan along with Chandru, an advocate, and another accomplice, Charles, reportedly murdered Kandhan. While Chandru surrendered in court on Friday, Kaviarasan and Charles were rounded up by a police team here, early on Monday.
