CHENNAI: Two history sheeters, suspected to be involved in the murder of a duo in Chengalpattu on Thursday, was gunned down by police on Friday morning at Mamandur near the Kancheepuram-Chengalpattu border along the Chennai - Tiruchy National Highway after they allegedly tried to attack the police team with country-made bombs and machetes.
Police identified the deceased as Dinesh (24), (full name not available) and S Moideen (23), from Chengalpattu district. Chengalpattu Superintendent of Police Aravindan said the duo was attempting to flee when police surrounded them.
“They hurled country-made bombs at police and when police closed in on them, they attacked the police with machetes, injuring head constable Suresh and police constable Bharath. In self-defence, police shot Dinesh and Moideen,” said Aravindan. The shots, that killed the suspects, were allegedly fired by Thirukazhukundram police inspector Ravikumar. Santosh Kumar, North Zone Inspector General of Police visited the spot and inquiried. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered.
According to police, on Thursday Madhavan, Dinesh and Moideen murdered Appu Karthik in full public view near the Chengalpattu old bus stand by hurling country-made bombs at him and hacking him, before hacking Mahesh to death while he was watching television at his house in Mettu Street. Following the murders, three special teams were formed to nab the suspects.
The murders took place due to a long-standing enmity, police said. Appu Karthik and Mahesh were booked in 2018 for assaulting Dinesh and Moideen. While a trial was under way, Appu Karthik and Mahesh reportedly assaulted Dinesh in front of his house three days ago.
‘Police can’t take law in their own hands’
To take revenge, Dinesh and Moideen, police said, planned to eliminate the duo. Madhavan (32) (full name not available) and A Jecintha (29) allegedly joined hands with Dinesh and Moideen to avenge the arrest of Jecintha’s husband Ashok, an expert in country bombs. Ashok was arrested a year ago following a tip-off by a rival gang, police said. “The Chengalpattu team informed us two suspects were hiding in Uthiramerur in the Thirupulivanam forest region.
As it falls under Kancheepuram jurisdiction, we started the search in the morning. We nabbed Madhavan and Jecintha at around 8 am and handed them over to the special team,” said Prabhakaran, Inspector of Police, Uthiramerur. I t was based on information from Madhavan and Jecintha, who were taken to Chengalpattu, that the police team approached Dinesh and Moideen as they were trying to escape.
The killing has raised concerns from activists, who said encounters take away a person’s right to a legal trial. “Police cannot take the law into their hands. Police stations cannot become courts and officers cannot become judges,” Justice (retd) K Chandru said. He pointed out it that a pattern has evolved in which the government uses extra-constitutional means to come down hard on criminals, which are recognised by the police and welcomed by the public.
“It is a vicious cycle, because the criminal justice system has failed,” said Chandru, adding the situation would continue until reforms enabled the judiciary to provide speedy justice. Recalling how a verdict was reached in the George Floyd case in the United States in a year, Chandru pointed out that the 2015 case of the killing of 22 Tamil men in Andhra Pradesh for allegedly smuggling red sanders is still pending in court.
“Never once has a police personnel been arrested for murder,” added Chandru. Concurring with Chandru, Henri Tiphagne, advocate and executive director of People’s Watch, said in although in encounters the ones who lose their lives are alleged criminals that does not give the police the right to take a person’s life.
“Encounters prevent suspects from exercising the right to defend themselves,” he said. “Police have the same story for every encounter. The suspects escaped, they went after them, suspects attacked and police shot them dead,” he pointed out, adding that if police are given a free-hand, a day might come when innocents too could be shot for alleged crimes and it would go unnoticed.