After the last police encounter in the city in July 2018 (rowdy Anandan in Taramani), the city on Saturday witnessed another encounter killing: S. Vallarasu, 21, who was gunned down by the police in Madhavaram.
The police said he was a notorious history-sheeter and were forced to shoot him because he had injured at least three police personnel.
Vallarasu was associated with gangsters Dhanasekar and Kathir alias Kathiresan, who were involved in criminal activities in the area.
He was causing disturbance in the Vyasarpadi area along with associates Kathiresan and Karthik. The three of them were drunk and assaulted one of the two constables Paunraj. He slashed him thrice with a knive.
Trio escape
In a split second, Vallarasu escaped from the spot with his associates, the police claimed. Mr. Paunraj was seen bleeding profusely in a video, which was released to the media.
Information on the attack on the police constable was communicated to top police officers immediately, and special teams were constituted under Pulianthope inspector M. Ravi and MKB Nagar inspector George Miller.
Police teams went in search of Vallarasu in Madhavaram. He was traced to a truck terminal near Madhavaram bus stand at around 4 a.m. While police personnel encircled Vallarasu, he refused to surrender. Hurling abuses at them, he stepped forward and attacked two sub-inspectors, Premkumar and Deepan, attached to the Vysarpadi police station. They were injured.
Additional Commissioner of Police, North, R. Dhinakaran said: “We had to open fire. After Vallarasu collapsed, we rushed him to a hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival.”
City Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan visited police personnel admitted to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital and Apollo Hospital and enquired about their health.
R. Vijayalakhsmi, judicial magistrate, held an ienquiry into the cause of death. Kathiresan, an associate of Vallarasu, was caught.
Samikannu, father of the deceased, meanwhile, claimed that his son was killed in a fake encounter. The body of the deceased was handed over to the family after post-mortem.
