CHENNAI: A day after three men were arrested by the Greater Chennai Police (GCP) for their alleged involvement in six chain snatching incidents on Tuesday, one of the suspects, 26-year-old Jaffar Gulam Hussain Irani from Maharashtra, was killed in an “encounter” by the city police on Wednesday morning.
According to the police, they shot him in “self-defence” after he allegedly fired two rounds at them from a country-made pistol hidden in the stolen bike used for the crimes.
The “encounter” occurred under the Taramani railway bridge when a police team led by Taramani police inspector (L&O) Buhari and two personnel took him there to recover the vehicle.
Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police A Arun, in a press meet on Wednesday, said that Jaffar fired twice at the police but missed. Buhari then fired back, killing Jaffar.
Inspector Buhari and team took Jaffar to the crime scene to recover the bike. There, he allegedly retrieved a hidden gun and fired. In “self-defence” the police shot back, the police commissioner said. Jaffar was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. His body was sent for postmortem. On Wednesday, Saidapet Judicial Magistrate Parthiban visited the encounter site for an inquiry.
The other accused, Misamum Dhusvasam Mesam Irani (28), along with Jaffar, was nabbed from the Chennai airport. A third accomplice, Salman Irani (22), was arrested by GCP with help from the Railway Protection Force at Ongole railway station in Andhra Pradesh.
The police commissioner said that two of the accused flew to Chennai separately early Tuesday and met the third suspect, who had arrived earlier. They were provided with a Karnataka-registered bike (from Bidar), which is being investigated as stolen or purchased.
The chain-snatching spree lasted from 6 am to 7.10 am, and began in Saidapet on Tuesday. The police commissioner said vehicle checks and CCTV footage helped track the suspects to the airport. Their photos were circulated to transport hubs.
“The duo (Jaffar and Misamum) went to the airport, changed clothes but kept the same shoes. We had alerted airport authorities to monitor last-minute ticket buyers. One was nabbed inside a Hyderabad-bound flight, while the other was stopped while purchasing a ticket due to an ID issue,” the police commissioner said.
Based on their information, the third suspect was later arrested. CCTV footage suggests the suspects were familiar with Chennai’s layout. A 65-year-old woman injured in one of the incidents is undergoing treatment.
The police said the three were allegedly part of the ‘Irani’ gang based in Maharashtra’s Mumbai, West Thane, and Bidar in Karnataka. Jaffar had 50 cases against him in Mumbai, according to police records.
This is the fourth police “encounter” in Chennai since the July 2024 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party state president K Armstrong. One of the key accused in that case, Thiruvengadam, was the first to be killed in an encounter.