The Mylapore police arrested a gangster and four associates. M. Sivakumar, 40, was involved in 30 criminal cases, the police said.
Sivakumar and his associates were holed up in Gingee, Villupuram district, after committing a crime in the city recently. He was allegedly involved in waylaying and hurling a bomb at a woman advocate in Chintadripet.
The police also seized a 9 mm pistol and long knives from them.
On a tip off from the police there, a Chennai police team rounded them up at a house near Melmalayanur. They tried to escape on seeing the police, but after a chase, the city police team arrested them at gun point.
The police said Sivakumar would plan an attack and then engage henchmen, usually his associates. After sending them to the spot, he would sit inside a cinema theatre or a shopping mall, and give orders using a mobile phone, the police added.
