Bid on DMK man planned in Puzhal jail

A notorious criminal gang had hatched a plan to kill their arch rival Jagan alias Jaganathan in the Puzhal prison. The leader of the gang, ‘CD’ Mani, who was a gangster with the dreaded Dindigul Pandi group and later formed his own criminal syndicate, hatched the plan with the help of his close associates Vinod alias Vinod Kumar (27), a resident of MGR Nagar, Hariharan (30), who has been Mani’s driver and a resident of Padanallur, ‘Sori’ Suresh (27), a resident of Kodambakkam and Karthik (27), a resident of Adyar. 

‘CD’ Mani has been detained under Goondas Act after another murderous attempt on Jaganathan in August last year. The organised crime intelligence unit of CCB had arrested four of the accused immediately after the attempt on Jaganathan. They had also secured a country made 9 mm pistol from the custody of Vinod Kumar, which was used to shoot Jaganathan.

 Police said ‘Ceylon’ Mohan, a close associate of Mani had procured two country made guns from Mumbai, one for Mani and one for Vinod Kumar in 2011. “The gun had three rounds and the accused had emptied all the three rounds on Jaganathan. 

However, one bullet missed the target. One bullet had pierced his right hand and hit the chest and the other one had just cut across his neck,” a senior police official told DTNext . Police said ‘CD’ Mani would also be made an accused in the latest attempt to murder case. 

Police is also probing the role of one Padmanabhan of Velachery, who is said to be a business associate of ‘CD’ Mani. The arrested gang members have given details regarding Padmanabahan in the assault on Jaganathan’s life.