Tamil Nadu: Alleged Chain Snatcher Killed In Police Encounter Near Chennai, Another Accused Held

Accused had attempted to snatch a gold chain from a woman near toll plaza and when she screamed, they opened fire in the air on Sunday.

Police Deployed At The Spot. (Picture: ABP Nadu)

Chennai: A day after two men carrying guns opened fire in the air and snatched a chain from a woman near Irungattukottai toll plaza near Sriperumbudur in Kanchipuram district, Tamil Nadu police shot one of them to death and captured the other on Monday. 

According to a report in DTNext, the deceased was identified as Murthasha and the captured one was identified as Akthar. 

According to media reports, around 1 pm on Sunday when a resident of Pennalur village near Sriperumbudur, R Indirani, 55, was waiting at the toll plaza to board a bus to Chennai, two men had attempted to snatch her gold chain. When she screamed and held on to the chain, one of the accused took out a gun and fired thrice in the air to scare the woman and to prevent any attempts to name them. Snatching the chain weighing seven sovereigns, the duo jumped into the nearby lake and escaped.

Alerted by the public, Kancheepuram range DIG Sathyapriya and Superintendent of Police Sudhakar rushed to the spot. About 300 police personnel were deployed in the locality to trace the accused.

Quoting a police official, the DTNext report said that the police department had sought permission to shoot the accused if required. 

The accused were hiding in the forest area that was located close to the lake and police officials had used drones to trace out the accused. 

Police officials claimed that one of the accused attempted to shoot police personnel when the search team entered the forest area and the personnel in retaliation opened fire and killed Murthasha on the spot, the report said. The body of the deceased was taken to Sriperumbudur government hospital.