MAYILADUTHURAI (Tamil Nadu): Mayiladuthurai police gunned down one person in an encounter and arrested three others in connection with the murder of two members of a jeweller’s family and robbery of 12kg of gold and Rs 6 lakh in cash near Sirkazhi in Mayiladuthurai district on Wednesday.
The suspects were identified as Mahipal (25), Manish (23) and Ramesh (20) and Karnaram from Rajasthan. The first three were found near Erukkur where police shot Mahipal twice in “self-defence” after he allegedly brandished weapons and assaulted two cops. Karnaram was caught in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district later in the day.
The armed gang allegedly assaulted the members of the family of jeweller Dhanraj Choudary (52) in Sirkazhi on Wednesday morning, murdering his wife Asha (45) and son Akhil (28) before making away with 12 kg of gold from his house. Choudary and his daughter-in-law Nehal were injured during the robbery. Choudary, a native of Rajasthan, settled in Sirkazhi about 20 years ago. He runs a jewellery shop in Dharmakulam near Poompuhar and lived in Railway Station Road in Sirkazhi with his family. Akhil and Nehal were married just a year ago.
According to police, at around 6.30am on Wednesday, the suspects knocked on the door of the family’s home. They allegedly demanded the family hand over all the jewellery in the house. The suspects are alleged to have slit the throats of Asha and Akhil and hacked the other two during the robbery. Police said the suspects took the hard drive on which footage from the CCTV cameras at the house were saved and left in Choudary’s SUV.
While Asha and Akhil succumbed to their injuries, Nehal managed to alert the neighbours who rushed to the house and found the family in a pool of blood. The survivors reportedly informed the police that the robbers appeared to be from North India and had communicated with them in Hindi. Nehal and Choudary were shifted to a hospital for treatment while the bodies of the deceased were taken for autopsy.
Mayiladuthurai SP Dr N Shreenatha immediately formed multiple teams to find the suspects before they crossed the district borders and the police were able to spot Choudary’s SUV abandoned Pattavilagam Road near Atthiyur at around 9.30 am.
Meanwhile, villagers from Erukkur informed the Kollidam police station that a group of unidentified North Indians was hiding in a farm in the area. The police surrounded the spot and rounded up three men who were later identified as Mahipal, Manish and Ramesh.
The police claimed they shot Mahipal twice in self-defence. Mahipal's body was retrieved and sent for autopsy. Later in the evening, a fourth suspect named Karnaram, also from Rajasthan, was arrested in Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district.
A case was registered in Sirkazhi Police Station and the suspects were booked under several sections of the IPC including 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder). Further investigations are underway.
The Tamil Nadu Pawn Jewellers’ Association and the Rajasthani community in Sirkazhi have thanked the Tamil Nadu police for the swift action and urged a speedy trial.