Kolathur jewellery shop heist: Maduravoyil inspector Periyapandi shot dead in Rajasthan

A police inspector attached to the Maduravoyil police station was shot dead while another inspector attached to the Kolathur police station was injured in Pali district of Rajasthan after an operation to nab the key accused in a jewellery heist in the city went awry in the early hours of Wednesday.

The slain inspector S Periyapandian (48) had been camping in Rajasthan with Inspector M Munisekhar and three constables to nab the accused when they received information that two of the wanted men, Nathuram and Dinesh Chowdry, were hiding in an abandoned brick kiln in a remote village in Pali district late on Tuesday. The five-member team from Chennai rushed to Rampurkalan village, in Jaitaran police limit in Pali district, without informing the local police at 2.30 am on Wednesday when the incident took place.

According to a senior police officer here, as soon the police team arrived on the scene, the suspects had gathered some people to their support. “Though the police zeroed in on the wanted men, several others gathered at the scene and opposed the arrest, resulting in a scuffle. After exchange of blows, the locals started pelting stones at the Chennai police team. As the police retreated, inspector Munisekhar fell down and his weapon slipped off his hold. One of the suspects used this opportunity to pick up the gun during the melee and is believed to have used the 9 mm pistol to shoot Periyapandian,” a senior Chennai police officer said.

The Chennai police team, which ran for cover from the scene, later returned only to find an unconscious Periyapandian lying in a pool of blood with a bullet injury on his left chest. “Though he was immediately taken to Jaitran GH, doctors declared him dead on arrival,” an officer said. A police team headed by Santhosh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police, Chennai, has rushed to Rajasthan.

Senior city police officers are also in touch with the Rajasthan Additional Director General of Police NRK Reddy to get further assistance in nabbing the culprits.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan police said some unidentified persons have been detained in connection with the death of Periyapandian