COIMBATORE: A 32-year-old suspect in a two-year-old jewellery theft case was shot at by the Podanur police during a bid to arrest him on Friday morning at Edamalaipatti Pudur in Tiruchy district.
The suspect, K Rajasekar, is a resident of Bhagavathi Amman Kovil Street, Periya Kadai Veethi, in Dindigul district.
He attacked two policemen with a knife and attempted to escape, said police.
He was wanted by the Podanur police in Coimbatore for the theft of 45 sovereigns of gold jewellery from a college professor’s home at Indira Nagar in Vellalore between October 18 and 21, 2023 when the residents were away.
Police investigators identified Rajasekar as the burglar using CCTV footage and confirmed his identity. He has a history of criminal activity as per the Dindigul North police. The police tracked him down to Tiruchy and located him at a house in Sreenivasa Nagar, near Edamalaipatti Pudur.
On Friday, around 11.40 am when the police attempted to arrest Rajasekar, he assaulted a sub-inspector and a grade I constable with a knife and tried to flee. In response, another sub-inspector, named Baskar, fired at him, injuring Rajasekar in his left rib and left thigh. He was subsequently admitted to a government hospital in Tiruchy where he is now out of danger and cooperating with the investigation, said a senior police officer.
The police plan to present him to a local court in Coimbatore with a transit warrant after his treatment, police sources added.