Police personnel at the spot where police opened fire at Murugandi Thevar, at Ajjinadaka in Ullal Police Station limits.
Credit: Special arrangement
Mangaluru: Police opened fire on Saturday at an accused involved in the daylight robbery at Kotekar Vyavasaya Seva Sahakari Sangha Niyamitha branch at KC Road, who was attempting to escape after assaulting a constable.
The accused Murugandi Thevar was injured in the incident and Constable Manjunath was also hurt, said Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal.
Ullal police inspector who is also the investigation officer in the case had taken Murugandi and Yosuva Rajendran into police custody till February 3 for further investigation.
During enquiry, Murugandi had disclosed crucial details about the planning and execution of the crime. He revealed that he, along with Yosuva and a local associate, Shashi Thevar, met in November 2024 at Ajjinadaka near the bank in Ullal Police Station limits. During the meeting, Shashi had brought a firearm and shared key details about security lapses, which helped in planning the robbery.
Murugandi took police to the spot where Shashi had hid the weapon.
A police team consisting of Ullal Police Inspector, one Sub-Inspector, and two constables proceeded to Ajjinadaka along with Murugandi for evidence recovery and panchnama. On reaching the spot, Murugandi assaulted constable Manjunath, who was holding his restraint chain. He allegedly hit the constable in his private parts and attempted to strangulate him with the restraint chain before attempting to flee the spot.
In response, Ullal Inspector first fired a warning shot in the air. However, as Murugandi continued to run despite the warning, the inspector fired at his leg. Both injured have been shifted to a hospital in Deralakatte for treatment and are currently out of danger.
A separate case will be registered.
It may be recalled that the police had fired at Kannan Mani (36), another accused in the case, when he attempted to flee after trying to stab Ullal Police Inspector during the spot inspection on January 21. The police have so far arrested four persons in connection with the robbery and recovered 18.314 kg gold ornaments, Rs 3,80,500 cash.