Prime accused among trio held for murder attempt on Aduthurai panchayat chief

TIRUCHY: The Thanjavur police on Friday caught three more persons for the murder attempt on the Aduthurai Town Panchayat Chairman, Ma Ka Stalin. The three persons nabbed included the prime accused in the case.

The police said that Stalin's brother Raja was murdered in 2015, and the police arrested the prime accused, Lali Manikandan, who was subsequently lodged in prison.

Lali Manikandan was released on bail later. On August 26, 2015, he was travelling with his brother Madhavan and others in a car in Coimbatore, when a gang intercepted them at Sulur. They opened fire on Lali Manikandan's car, killing three people on the spot, including Madhavan. Lali Manikandan, however, escaped by a whisker.

This was followed by the registration of a case with Stalin as the prime accused in the murder plot. The case has since been under investigation.

A decade on, with such violence in the backdrop, Madhavan's son, Akash alias Hariharan (20), was on a plan to exact revenge on his father's murderers. Hariharan conspired to bump off Staling along with his relative Mahalingam (23) and Vijay (27).

On September 5 (Friday), Hariharan, along with a few persons, reached the Aduthurai Town Panchayat office around 12.30 pm. When Stalin, who is also a PMK State Executive Committee member, was discussing office affairs with others outside the office, the gang hurled country bombs at them and fled. Stalin narrowly escaped the murder plot as party members who were with him immediately alerted the police.

On Friday (September 12), the police arrested all three, including Hariharan in Madurai.