Six years after the grisly murder of rowdy Palani Kumar, Vivek Nagar police have finally arrested two of the prime suspects allegedly involved in the February 17, 2006, murder.

Palani, a notorious rowdy from Vivek Nagar, was recovering in Hosmat Hospital after a road accident, when a gang of 30 men barged into his hospital room and hacked him to death. Three of Palani’s associates, who were in the room, were also attacked, but they survived.

The police arrested many of the accused, including prime suspect, Gunashekhar alias Guna, 42. Another suspect, Gunashekhar’s younger brother, Rajan alias Rajendra Prasad, 32, of Krishnappa Garden, was absconding. Gunashekhar absconded after he was released on bail.

Police team

The arrests were made after police received information that the brothers were living in Chennai. A special team, headed by Mallikarjun, Inspector of Police, Vivek Nagar police station, was responsible for the arrest.

According to police, Rajendra Prasad fled to Chennai soon after Palani’s murder. Using false identification and documents, he passed himself off as a homeless victim of the 2004 tsunami.

Through these claims, he was provided with rehabilitation housing on Old Mahabalipuram Road, Kannagi Nagar, Chennai, where a colony for tsunami survivors had come up. Police said Gunashekhar joined him at the colony after being released on bail. “The two brothers lived in separate houses in the colony,” police said.

They never returned to Bangalore or contacted their associates, police said. Gunashekhar lived alone and Prasad married a girl he had fallen in love in the colony.
“The brothers worked as construction labourers in Chennai and the girl’s family did not know about their past,” police said.

A total of 13 cases, including three cases of murder and four of attempted murder are pending against Gunashekhar. Rajendra has a total of nine cases pending against him, including the Palani murder case.

In February 2012, 17 of the accused in the Palani murder case were acquitted.