BENGALURU: Thalaghattapura police on Sunday opened fire at a history-sheeter and his associate to arrest them. This is the third such incident where the city police opened fire at anti-social elements in just a week’s time. The injured are Paramesh alias Parmi (31), a resident of Kembathahalli, and his associate Santhosh alias Dombi (28), of Thalaghattapura.
A senior police officer said Paramesh was involved in the murder of Ashwath Shetty, a realtor, who was hacked to death in 2010. He was sent to judicial custody and after a few years, he was out on bail. He was later wanted in eight more cases. A special team was formed to nab Paramesh, who was absconding for two-and-a-half years.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team headed by Inspector C B Shivaswamy chased a car driven by Paramesh on Sunday morning. Police managed to stop the car when it was on NICE Road near Banashankari 6th Stage.
As they tried to escape, the inspector opened one round of fire in the air to warn them. This is when Paramesh fired two rounds from his unlicensed pistol at the inspector and sub-inspector K R Srinivas. Both the policemen escaped the bullets. The inspector then shot at Paramesh’s leg. After Paramesh collapsed, Santhosh attacked police head constable Suresh S C and constable Neminath with a lethal weapon, leaving them injured. Santhosh too was shot in his leg by Srinivas. The two were rushed to a government hospital while the injured cops were taken to a private hospital for treatment, the officer added.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Paramesh might have purchased the pistol from an illegal weapon dealer. The two had been living in Andhra Pradesh and Mysuru before coming to Bengaluru. Their vehicle had been on the police radar for some time. Police said they were planning to carry out a robbery when they were chased by the police.
Other episodes of shooting
On March 26, Bellandur police had opened fire at two kidnappers after they had abducted a 28-year-old teacher on Kasavanahalli Main Road and molested her before absconding. On March 28, Cottonpet police had opened fire at history-sheeter Nirmal alias Roopesh (36), who was absconding for three years and was planning to murder his rival.