A 28-year-old man, Murthaza of Jharkhand, who was accused of snatching chains and opening fire to chase away his pursuers, was gunned down in an alleged encounter with the police in Mevalurkuppam village near Sriperumbudur on Monday. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Kancheepuram, M. Sathiya Priya, said the accused had attacked a head constable with a knife, forcing the police to open fire on him. His associate Naem Akthar, 39, was arrested.
According to the police, Murthaza, who was staying in a nearby village, and Akthar were suspected to have been involved in at least three cases of chain snatching in Sriperumbudur.
Around 7 a.m on Sunday, R Indrani, 55, of Pennalur village, was waiting at a bus stand near her house to board a bus to reach a toll plaza in Sriperumbudur where she is working. While she was at the bus stand, when the two men attempted to snatch her gold chain. Despite her resistance, the duo snatched her chain, weighing 4.5 sovereigns, and fled. Ms Indrani called up her son, who was at home, for assistance.
Immediately, he and other villagers began searching the adjacent areas of the village, which is surrounded by a lake and dense bush. They managed to trace Murthaza, who allegedly opened fire in the air with a country-made gun and escaped.
Upon receiving a complaint, over 200 police personnel surrounded the area from Sunday afternoon and used drones for a combing operation. DIG Sathiya Priya and SP M. Sudhakar oversaw the operation.
“Right after the incident, we conducted a thorough combing operation in the area. At night, too, we tried our level best to cordon off the entire area, up to a 10 km radius. On Monday morning, we secured Akthar, and Murthaza was found to be in touch with him. A team entered the adjoining area of a lake when Murthaza attacked one of our head constables with a knife. When he tried to attack again, an inspector opened fire on him in retaliation,” Ms. Sathiya Priya told The Hindu.
The police reported the encounter death on Monday afternoon.
Further investigation is on to ascertain what the two were doing in Chennai. The police also suspect their involvement in the stabbing of a Tasmac staff member and injuring another person last week.
Inspector General of Police, North Zone, Santhosh Kumar, visited the area and met the injured police personnel at Government General Hospital, Sriperumbudur.
