Rival gang in country bomb case arrested

The main accused was identified as M Sivakumar (40), who has 23 cases, including four murder charges, pending against him. His aides, E Rajkumar (24), R Harikumar (35) and R Arun (31) of Mylapore, were also arrested, said the police. A country-made pistol with a bullet, eight machetes, Rs 50,000 in cash and jewels were seized from them.

Assistant Commissioner Nelson said that Sivakumar was the key suspect in the attack on slain gangster Thottam Sekar’s wife Malarkodi and her son Azhaguraja in front of Casino Theatre near Anna Salai on October 10. Malarkodi and Azhaguraja were arrested as the latter had hurled a country bomb to escape from the gang. After the incident, Sivakumar and his men went absconding.

Meanwhile, the Mylapore police received a tip-off that Sivakumar was planning to carry out a dacoity and surrounded him and his men. They were remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday.

The police said that the enmity dates back to 1997 when Thottam Sekar was murdered and Sivakumar was the main accused in the case. Sivakumar, who was released from the prison, recently learnt that Thottam Sekar’s son Azhaguraja was planning to murder him. So, he decided to murder Azhaguraja and carried out the attack in Chintadripet.