Rowdy arrested, plan to bump off rival foiled

Plans by a notorious rowdy to murder his rival were foiled following his arrest by CCB sleuths on Thursday afternoon at Shivajinagar.

Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths arrested Thirukumar (alias Kutty), 42, a rowdy allegedly involved in 25 cases including four murders, and three associates, while they were plotting to eliminate a rival gang leader. Police have seized two pistols, two bullets, two lethal weapons, a dagger and four cellphones from the gang. The others arrested have been identified as: Srinivas, 29, a resident of Madivala, Kumaresh, 31, of K P Agrahara and Karthik, 31, of Ramamurthynagar.

According to DCP (Crime) Devaraj, the arrests were made after police received conclusive leads of the impending crime and said they had chased Kutty and his associates who were moving in two cars in Shivajinagar at around 12.30 pm. “They had planned to hack their rival, Kavala, who had been released from Central Prisons, Parappana Agrahara, recently,” police said.

Three other men of Kutty’s gang, Jayakanth and Saravan, both residents of Cottonpet, and Viji of Kammanahalli, who had been in the second car, fled the area, after the CCB surrounded Kutty’s car.

History of violence

Kutty, who has a long criminal record, has been arrested and jailed more than 20 times. He was also booked under Goonda Act. He is a registered rowdy-sheeter with Banaswadi, DJ Halli, Pulikeshinagar and Cottonpet police stations.

His recent crimes have revolved around real-estate. In May, Kutty, who had volunteered to mediate land disputes between two realtors in Pulikeshinagar, had allegedly threatened the realtor Shekhar at a gunpoint. Shekhar, who sustained injuries in the bout, managed to escape, foiling Kutty’s attempts to kill him. “Pulikeshinagar police had then registered a case against him and had launched a search operation to arrest him,” Devaraj said.

Since then, however, both Kutty and Kavala had been attempting to gain a dominant position in the Bangalore underworld and in rowdy activities. In 2010, this rivalry had led to Kutty being wounded in the face and right shoulder after he was ambushed by eight men from Kavala’s gang in Chitradurga, while police were escorting him to a local court. “The incident made Kutty determined to eliminate Kavala,” police added.

In May, police had taken several rowdies, including Kavala, into custody in the days leading up to the State Assembly elections. Kavala was put at the Central Prisons in Parappana Agrahara, to prevent him from indulging in rowdy activities and disrupting the polls. While in prison, he had even hatched a scheme to eliminate Kutty, police said. “When he was released a couple of weeks ago, Kutty’s men who were also in the prison, informed their associates outside,” police added.

Kutty, who seeks easy prey in the form of realtors, frequently volunteers to mediate on land issues, and often kills those who fail to fall in line. Kutty’s two pistols, which police have recovered, are unlicenced.

Kutty’s associate Srinivas, had previously served a sentence of life imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of Skin Babu. Kumaresh and Karthik were Kutty’s personal bodyguards.