COIMBATORE: Two days after the brutal murder of 57-year-old Special Sub-Inspector (SSI) of Police, M. Shanmugavel, at Gudimangalam village in Tiruppur district, one of the suspects, M. Manikandan, was shot dead in police firing early Thursday morning.
Police sources said they opened fire on him after he assaulted a Sub-Inspector and attempted to flee while being taken to the location where he had hidden the weapon used in the murder.
He was taken to the water stream near Upparu Dam at Chikkanur, close to Gudimangalam, for investigation and retrieval of the sickle used in the murder by the special team investigating the SSI murder case.
During the incident, Manikandan allegedly attacked another Sub-Inspector, Saravanakumar, with a sickle and tried to escape from custody.
To prevent his escape and in self-defense, the police team led by Inspector Thirungagasambandan opened fire, killing Manikandan on the spot. His body was sent to Tiruppur Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
Manikandan, along with his father Murthy alias Thuvakudiyan (65) and brother Thangapandian, had been working and residing at a farm owned by AIADMK MLA C. Mahendran of the Madathukulam constituency.
The trio got into an altercation under the influence of alcohol on Tuesday night.
During the dispute, the two sons allegedly assaulted their father. Neighbours alerted the police through the emergency helpline 100.
Special Sub-Inspector Shanmugavel and Constable Azhagu Raja, attached to the Gudimangalam police station and on patrol duty nearby, responded to the call and arrived at the scene around 11 p.m.
Shanmugavel reportedly intervened and arranged for Murthy to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Enraged by the intervention, Manikandan attacked SSI Shanmugavel with a sickle, killing him on the spot. The father and sons then allegedly attempted to assault the constable and the farm manager. Both managed to escape and alert the police station, officials said.