SI Marikannan, of Tirumangalam, who was allegedly attacked by the accused
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A sub-inspector of Madurai rural district police opened fire, in a purported act of self-defence, on an accused involved in the recent murder of a police constable in Sivaganga, near Perungudi in Madurai district, in the early hours of Monday (March 24, 2025).

A special team of police had arrested the accused and was taking him to the scene of the crime — where the police constable Malaiarasan was found dead, half-burnt, on Tuesday (March 18), along the Madurai-Thoothukudi Inner Ring Road — when SI Marikannan, of Tirumangalam, shot the accused Moovendran.

“He was asked to enact how he committed the crime. Moovendran then pulled out a knife, which he had hidden at the spot, and suddenly attacked SI Marikannan. The SI sustained injuries to his left hand and started bleeding. When the accused tried to attack him again, the SI shot him with his service pistol in self-defence,” Madurai Superintendent of Police B.K. Arvind said.

Moovendran suffered a bullet injury to his right leg. Both the SI and the accused were admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.

Murder plot

When the deceased police constable, Malaiarasan, who was part of the special crime team in Sivaganga district, had come to Madurai, he had approached Moovendran, an auto driver, to get dropped at Arapalayam. Moovendran, who was with his friend Siva in the vehicle, refused to go to Arapalayam.

However, the constable, who was drunk then, offered to give him more money to drop him at the bus stand.

“When he tried to send money from his mobile phone using a payment application, the auto driver noticed the Personal Identification Number the constable had typed on his phone,” Mr. Arvind said. The auto driver, who was in debt, impulsively decided to murder him for money, the police said.

The duo then took him to a wine shop and forced him to consume more alcohol. However, when Moovendran revealed his plan to murder the constable to Siva, the latter, fearing the consequences, fled the scene.

According to police, Moovendran later took the constable to a secluded place along the Inner Ring Road, poured petrol on him, and set him ablaze. After letting the body burn for some time, he disposed it off on other side of the Ring Road.

“Later, he approached two strangers and told them he was in urgent need of money but his debit card was not working. He transferred ₹40,000 each to the strangers using the constable’s mobile phone. Subsequently, he made them withdraw the money from their respective bank accounts from two different ATMs,” the SP said.

The police found that Siva, who had knowledge of Moovendran’s criminal intent, had taken ₹10,000 from the auto driver later.

The police are on the lookout for Siva.