History sheeter killed in encounter in Tamil Nadu, second in a week

Police officials said the deceased, aged 29, was escaping after supplying ganja to a gang when his vehicle was intercepted by a patrol team, which was acting on a tip-off.

File image of policemen. (Representative photo)

Credit: iStock Photo 

Chennai: In the second encounter in a week, a 29-year-old history sheeter was shot dead by the Tamil Nadu Police in Madurai after he allegedly attempted to escape by attacking three police personnel, including an inspector. The incident comes days after a 28-year-old suspect, who was arrested in connection with a series of chain snatching incidents across Chennai, was gunned down on March 26.

V Subash Chandra Bose from Teppakulam area in Madurai, who had at least 21 cases against him, including three for murder, was included as a suspect in the murder of another history-sheeter P Kaleeshwaran, who was killed by a gang on March 23.

Police officials said Bose was escaping after supplying ganja to a gang when his vehicle was intercepted by a patrol team, which was acting on a tip-off.

They said Bose tried to escape from the police net but was nabbed by the police in Chinthamani area. He attacked two constables with a weapon and fired at the inspector using a country-made pistol.

“It was then, the police team fired shots at him. The inspector aimed at his leg, but Bose moved a bit and was hit in his chest. He was rushed to a private hospital where he was declared dead by doctors,” Madurai City Police Commissioner J Loganathan said.

Loganathan said the policemen who were attacked by the suspect are hospitalised.

Kaleeshwaran’s murder had sent shock waves across Madurai last week and he was a relative of former DMK councillor and gangster V K Gurusamy.

Encounters have become the talk of the town in Tamil Nadu with Chennai alone witnessing four such extra-judicial killings in July 2024 following the murder of state BSP chief K Armstrong. The encounter that took place last week saw a chain snatcher losing his life.

While laying the blame on such killings on the police, human rights activists have been harping on the long-pending police reforms and non-implementation of guidelines imposed by courts. If those are implemented, the frequency of such encounters might come down, they say.