Pandi alias ‘Dindigul’ Pandi alias ‘Madras’ Pandi (42), allegedly involved in many grave crimes, and his associate Velu (34) alias ‘Guduvancheri’ Velu (34) were shot dead in an encounter with the police at Neelankarai here on Monday.
According to the police, on receiving a tip-off that Pandi was travelling in a vehicle along East Coast Road, a special team intercepted a car near Kanathur around 3 p.m.
On seeing the police personnel, Pandi fired from his country-made pistol and threw explosives. Velu attacked the team members with an ‘aruval,’ injuring Sub-Inspectors Ravi Kumar, Mahesh Kumar and Head Constable Prem Kumar.
The police retaliated by opening fire at the duo. Pandi and Velu, who suffered bullet injuries, were rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared them dead.
The injured policemen have been admitted to another hospital where their condition was said to be stable. The pistol used by Pandi and an unexploded bomb have been seized.
Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran, who visited the scene of encounter, said the police fired in self-defence. Pandi, a contract killer always armed with deadly weapons, had taken Rs.3 lakh as advance to murder a businessman, Sankaran Diwakar, of K.K. Nagar in May last. Six of his associates were arrested in connection with that murder. Apart from nine other murder cases, Pandi was involved in offences such as kidnap for ransom and criminal intimidation in different parts of the State. On receiving information that he was hiding in a village near Erode, a special team had gone there on Sunday. He escaped before the team could reach there, the Commissioner said.
Mr. Rajendran and senior police officers met the injured police personnel.
The Neelankarai police have registered a case and sent a report to the Revenue Divisional Officer in Tambaram for further enquiry. The bodies were shifted to the Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem.
