According to sources, Raja was arrested by the Special Forces Police from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh over a case related to threat and extortion.
Published Sep 23, 2024 | 4:37 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 23, 2024 | 4:37 PM
Seizing Raja.
In the early hours of Monday, 23 September, a team of Tamil Nadu police shot rowdy-sheeter “Seizing” Raja to death. Officials said the police opened fire after Raja allegedly tried to attack the team.
Tambaram police had declared Raja as a wanted accused in the murder case of Tamil Nadu BSP president K Armstrong and had put up posters across the state capital. According to sources, Raja was arrested on Sunday by the Special Forces Police from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh over a case related to threat and extortion.
The incident occurred while the police were searching an area in Akkarai in Neelankarai police limits where he had allegedly hidden weapons.
This comes less than a week after the encounter of another rowdy-sheeter, Kakkathoppu Balaji, in Chennai. Earlier, another suspect in the Armstrong murder case, K Thiruvengadam, was shot dead by the police.
The police said they were in Kadapa in relation to another case and arrested Raja when they received information that he was nearby.
Later, when interrogating him, he said that he kept weapons in Neelankarai in Chennai. Subsequently, the police team took Raja to Neelankarai to retrieve the weapons they had stored.
Officials said Raja took out a gun he had hidden, fired two rounds towards a sub-inspector and tried to escape. They said the police opened fire on Raja in self-defence.
Chennai South Joint Commissioner of Police CB Chakravarthy said that Raja missed the sub-inspector and the bullets hit the police vehicle.
“Seizing Raja shot twice at Police Sub-Inspector Ilangani. Fortunately, the bullets hit the police vehicle. The Velachery Police Inspector who was there at that time fired twice in self-defence,” he told reporters in Chennai.
Following the firing, the police took Raja to the hospital. However, government doctors who examined him declared him dead on arrival.
According to sources, 39 cases including six murder cases were pending against Raja. A court had declared him a wanted accused for absconding and not appearing for trial in several cases.
Raja was arrested as a wanted accused in a case of extortion at gunpoint in Velachery.
“As far as our investigation is concerned we are not aware of any connection between the Armstrong case and Raja. We have arrested Raja only in connection with the Velachery case,” the official said.
“For the past few months, we have been keeping a close eye on Seizing Raja in Velachery regarding the case of extorting money from someone at gunpoint. Based on the information given by the police inspector here (Chennai South), the special force arrested Raja,” the commissioner said.
“We are actively monitoring cases of threats using guns. We are also investigating where they are buying those guns. We intended to catch the culprit, hand him over to the court, and get him punished according to law, but we had to shoot in self-defence as we had no other option,” he added.
He said that the place where the encounter took place was completely dark and only five policemen were present at the spot.
“When Raja went to collect the stashed items, he took out the gun stored there and fired. We are actively investigating the incident and will release the detailed information soon”, he said.
The Tambaram police suspected the involvement of Raja in the murder of Armstrong following the arrest of one of his close associates, rowdy sheeter Puthur Appu.
On 21 September, the police arrested rowdy sheeter Puthur Appu, one of the prime suspects in the case from Delhi.
The police investigation had revealed that it was Appu who had supplied country-made explosives with the intent to kill Armstrong. The Special Forces arrested him from his hideout in the national capital.
Armstrong was hacked to death on 5 July and a case was registered at the Sembiyam Police Station.
Following the order of the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner to probe the reason behind Armstrong’s murder and to arrest all culprits involved, several people were nabbed by the investigation team.
The team arrested 27 people, including people related to various political parties and rowdies.
According to sources, the alleged encounter deaths of three rowdy-sheeters have created a sense of fear amongst the rowdy-sheeters in Chennai.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
