Raja, who is wanted in 39 cases, is shot while trying to escape. Karti Chidambaram criticizes “encounter”

Chennai, Sep 23 (PTI) – ‘Arrest’ Raja, a suspected criminal arrested in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, was shot dead here on Monday after he tried to escape from custody by opening fire at them, police said.

When the accused was taken to a location on the outskirts of the city to pick up weapons he had hidden there, he tried to escape and shot at the police unit.

A police officer shot him in self-defense and he succumbed to his injuries, a senior official said.

Reacting to the incident, Congress MP Karti P. Chidambaram said the clashes were a sign of poor police work.

Many years ago, while working for a loan collector, N Raja (51) used to “seize” the vehicles of defaulting payers. Hence, he came to be known as “seizure raja” and later became famous for his “involvement” in crimes, police sources said.

“At the first two locations where he led the police, there were no weapons and at the third location, there was a homemade pistol. While pretending to hand it over, he shot an inspector twice and luckily missed the target and hit the vehicle.” Another inspector who was at the spot shot the accused in self-defence.

Raja fainted due to injuries sustained and was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead, the police official told reporters here.

Raja, who has 39 serious criminal cases pending against him, including six for murder, has been imprisoned eight times under the Goondas Act. He is a history buff with more than 10 arrest warrants pending against him and is a convicted criminal.

Special police teams were formed to nab him and acting on a tip-off, they arrested him from his hideout in Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh on September 22. On the morning of September 23, he was handed over to the Velachery Police Inspector by the special teams and taken to Akkarai (East Coast Road) for confiscation of his weapons.

The body of the accused was taken to Government Royapettah Hospital for autopsy.

Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram said in a post on X: “Encounter killings are a manifestation of poor and inefficient policing. This is vigilantism and has no place in a constitutional state.” On Sunday, a video clip was shared on social media in which Raja’s wife is reportedly expressing concern about her husband’s safety in police custody.

Killings through encounters are an expression of poor and inefficient police work. This is vigilantism and has no place in a constitutional state. @tnpoliceoffl https://t.co/vKh6fLjGB6

— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) 23 September 2024

Political commentator Sumanth Raman said in a social media post, “Police ‘encounters’ represent a failure of the criminal justice system.” Elsewhere, in Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli, accused Jambukeswaran was shot in his left leg by police when he attacked cops to escape as they were taking him to some places as part of investigation in a criminal case, a senior police official said, adding that he was charged with 15 counts.

This is the third fatal accident in Chennai since July this year. On July 5, BSP leader K. Armstrong was hacked to death. Thiruvengadam, a prime accused in the Armstrong murder case, and history-sheeter ‘Kakkathoppu’ Balaji died in clashes with police.

On July 8, senior IPS officer A Arun took over as the Chennai Police Commissioner. Tamil Nadu’s main opposition party AIADMK had long criticised the ruling DMK for its handling of law and order.

(This story was published as part of the auto-generated Syndicate Wire feed. Aside from the headline, no changes were made to the text written by ABP Live.)

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