CHENNAI/TIRUNELVELI : ‘Seizing’ Raja (51), an ‘A+’ category history-sheeter, was shot dead by a police inspector on Monday morning near Akkarai, off East Coast Road in Chennai, about 24 hours after he was arrested by another police team in Rajampet near Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh.
This is the third ‘encounter’ killing by Chennai police since ADGP A Arun took over as commissioner in July. Earlier, on July 13, Thiruvengadam, a history sheeter arrested in the Armstrong murder case, was killed similarly. Last week, cops shot dead ‘Kakathoppu’ Balaji, another history-sheeter, while he tried to ‘attack’ them during arrest.
According to the Greater Chennai police, Raja was taken to a deserted location near the Buckingham Canal to recover weapons hidden by him by a special police team led by Velachery Inspector Vimal and Adyar inspector Ilamkani.
‘Raja was 16th person killed in encounters during DMK rule’
After reaching the place, the history-sheeter allegedly fired two rounds at the police personnel using a country-made pistol recovered from the spot. The bullets missed Ilamkani but hit his vehicle’s windshield and door.
Forced to retaliate, inspector Vimal fired two shots from his 9mm pistol in self-defence, which hit Raja in his chest. The injured history-sheeter was taken to a hospital on a 108 ambulance, but was declared dead on arrival, police said.
Addressing a press conference on Monday afternoon, M R Sibi Chakravarthi, joint commissioner (south), GCP, said that Raja was an accused in 39 cases, including six pertaining to murder. There were 10 pending warrants against him.
He had been declared a proclaimed offender by a magistrate court recently. A special police team visited Andhra Pradesh two days ago and arrested him at Rajampet near Kadapa, the officer said.
He was brought to Chennai and handed over to the Velachery police regarding a case where he had been accused of brandishing a pistol and extorting money from a businessman. “Cases where weapons are involved are taken very seriously by us,” Chakravarthi said. He also clarified that Raja’s arrest was not linked to the murder of former Tamil Nadu BSP chief K Armstrong.
A magistrate visited the spot where Raja was killed and later visited the Government Royapettah Hospital where his body was sent for autopsy. A team of forensic experts also collected samples and fragments of bullet shrapnel for ballistic examination from the encounter location.
Reacting to the recent spike in police encounter deaths, civil rights group Joint Action Against Custodial Torture (JAACTaact) in a statement on Monday said that the use of such ‘extra-judicial’ killings stands testimony to unprofessional and incompetent policing in Tamil Nadu. They noted that Raja was the 16th person to be killed in this manner by police after the DMK assumed office in May 2021.
Union Minister of State L Murugan, on Monday, said that while police can fire in self-defence, the state has been witnessing a continuous stream of such killings. The union minister said that it is courts that should award punishment.
