The Madurai city police have pasted posters in several important places in the city bearing the order of a Judicial Magistrate court declaring P. Pandi alias ‘Attack’ Pandi a ‘proclaimed offender’ in connection with the murder of a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam functionary.
The posters bear the photograph of Pandi along with Tamil and English versions of the December 19, 2013, order issued by the Judicial Magistrate, S. Govindarajan.
Pandi, cited as the prime accused in the January 31, 2013 murder of ‘Pottu’ Suresh, has been absconding since then.
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The police said that a simmering intra-party rivalry between Suresh, a close friend of former Union Minister, M. K. Alagiri, and Pandi, who was chairman of Agricultural Marketing Committee in Madurai, led to an armed gang killing Suresh while he was returning home.
All the 18 accused, except Pandi, have either surrendered or have been arrested by the police.
After the anticipatory bail petitions of Pandi were dismissed by the court, the city police returned the arrest warrant issued by the court claiming that he could not be traced. Consequently, the magistrate declared Pandi a ‘proclaimed offender.’ “Pasting of posters with the proclamation order has been done as per Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” a police officer said. Many of the posters pasted in Keeraithurai area, where Pandi resided, were torn off on Thursday afternoon.
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The posters had been pasted in Pandi’s house and the residences of his relatives and friends, the Commissioner of Police, Sanjay Mathur, said. “The city police have requested the Bureau of Immigration to issue a look-out notice for Pandi to prevent him from leaving the country,” he added.
Stating that the magistrate had directed Pandi to appear before him by January 22, 2014, the Commissioner said that if he failed to turn up, the court could order attachment of his movable and immovable properties.
The proclamation order empowers any police officer to arrest Pandi without a warrant.