Two days after a police constable was murdered in Usilampatti in Madurai district, police shot at one of the suspects in the case – Ponvannan (29) – at a forest area near Cumbum in Theni district late Friday.  

As the accused were suspected to be hiding near Varusanadu in Theni district, Inspector General of Police (South zone) Prem Anand Sinha, Madurai Superintendent of Police B. K. Aravind, Dindigul SP A. Pradeep and Theni SP R. Shiva Prasad, along with police personnel were camped at the Theni SP office on Friday.  

They believed that the four suspects- Ponvannan (29) of Kaakivadanpatti of Theni, Baskaran (28), Prabakaran (29) and Sivaneswaran (28) of Theni – had escaped via Mallapuram-Mayiladumparai in Virudhunagar district to the forest areas of Theni district. Therefore, police tightened the police patrol and increased the police strength at the nearby check posts. 

Sources said that when they checked the CCTV footage of the Thalaiyuthu forest check post, they identified that four suspects had crossed the area to a hideout location near Varusanadu in Theni district. 

The six police teams deployed in the search, learned that the suspects escaped to Bodimettu to slip into the forest areas of Kerala. A police team headed by Usilampatti police inspector Anand noted the movement of the suspects and followed them through the forest. 

Police sources said, as the team attempted to nab the four suspects, one of them – Ponvannan – allegedly retaliated by attacking a police constable named Sundarapandian. “In self-defence, Mr. Anand shot three times at Ponvannan, wounding him on the arm and stomach,” they added.  

Following this, all the four suspects were rushed to Cumbum Government Hospital for treatment. As Ponvannan was heavily injured, he was taken to Theni Government Medical college hospital for further treatment.  Later in the evening, he was shifted to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.

 Family accepts mortal remains

As the DMK party announced Rs.5 lakh compensation for the family of the deceased constable Muthukumar, they accepted his mortal remains. His mortal remains was taken to the graveyard at his native village Kallapatti and cremated after police personnel accorded the 21-gun-salute.

Legislator demands Rs.1 crore compensation for family

MLA R.B. Udayakumar visited the family of the deceased constable at their house in Kallapatti. He assured them that the AIADMK would support them in getting appropriate compensation from the government.

Speaking to press, he said that the Tamil Nadu government should grant Rs.1 crore as solatium to the family. Also, a family member should be provided a government job. “When Edappadi K. Palaniswamy was the Chief Minister, during a similar incident, he granted Rs.1 crore as a compensation to the deceased police personnel’s family,” he added.

Also, as he learned that more than three murders have taken place in the same TASMAC shop located under Sindupatti police station limits, district administration should immediately remove the outlet from the area, Mr. Udayakumar noted.

A police outpost at the area would help in preventing law and order issue in the area, he said.