Tamil Nadu cop's death: The 6.30 am wake up call Inspector’s sons would no longer get

CHENNAI: For Inspector Periyapandi’s son Ruban, news of his dad being shot dead in Rajasthan came through a TV channel. “Around 7 am, I heard my mother crying. I came out of the room only to find my father’s photo in the news channels saying he had been shot dead, which came as a shock,” said Ruban, who is doing his first year BSc (Physics) in a city private college.

“At 6.30 every morning, my father would wake us up. Even if he is not in town, he would wake us up by calling over the phone. Today, when I did not receive the call I thought he was busy. He would forever be away at work. We did not get to spend much time with him,” he recalled. Periyapandi was slated to celebrate his second son Rahul’s birthday on December 19.

“Periyapandi joined the Maduravoyal police station only in October. When he was going to Rajasthan for this case, he said he would return only after he nabs the suspects. After reaching there, he claimed he had traced their location and would return soon,” said his wife Banurekha. Two days ago, Periyapandi’s team had nabbed four persons from Rajasthan, who helped their relative drill the roof of the gold shop at Rajamangalam.

The suspects are Chennaram, father of C Nathuram, and his relatives Ellaram, Shankar Lal and Dauram. Police have launched a search for Nathuram of Pali district and Dinesh Chowdary (20) of Jodhpur district in Rajasthan. Investigation revealed that the relatives had helped Nathuram and Dinesh drill the roof and decamp with the jewellery and the shop’s CCTV camera.

Mukesh, owner of the gold shop, and his father had gone for lunch around 1 pm. When they returned at 4 pm, they were shocked to find 3.5 kg of gold, 4.5 kg of silver and `2 lakh missing along with the CCTV camera installed in the shop.

“The duo approached Mukesh on the pretext of renting his shop to begin a textile store and paid advance,” said a police officer. The officer said the men were identified using CCTV footage from nearby buildings. They are suspected to be involved in similar cases in other districts.

Based on a tip-off, a special team was formed and sent to Rajasthan.

“An FIR has been registered against eight persons, including Nathuram and five women, under various provisions of IPC, including murder,”said Deepak Bhargav, Superintendent of police, Pali. The local police who rushed to the spot, recovered the inspector’s body and sent it to the government hospital for post-mortem, while the injured are undergoing treatment at the hospital in Rajasthan.

An IG should have led the operation, says Stalin

Chennai: Had an officer in the rank of Inspector-General (IG) of Police led the special team that was hunting for the dacoits in Rajasthan, inspector Periyapandi would not have lost his life, DMK working president M K Stalin told reporters after visiting the bereaved family at Avadi in Chennai on Wednesday. The Leader of Opposition wanted the State to offer employment to the dependents of the deceased inspector in the police department.