Four gang killings in 48 hours shocks Chennai

CHENNAI: The city has seen four gangland murders in the past 48 hours, the latest that of a lawyer at Thiruvanimyur on Tuesday night, allegedly by a criminal whom he regularly enlarged on bail.
Lawyer Gautam’s was the second murder of the night. He was hacked to death by a three-member gang led by Kamalesh, police said. Kamalesh suspected Gautam of hobnobbing with his rivals and decided to kill him, police said.
Gautam was taken to a private hospital in Adyar where he died.His relatives protested in front of the hospital demanding waiver of the 50,000 bill; they were persuaded to leave by the police. On Wednesday, Kamalesh and his two associates were arrested and later remanded in judicial custody.
The other murder on Tuesday night was at Korrukupet where 24-year-old Dharma, who was consuming liquor near the railway tracks, was hacked to death by a five-member gang.
The assailants had asked Dharma about the whereabouts of his brother, Surya. Dharma became agitated and abused them, prompting the gang to attack him with sharp weapons before fleeing. Dharma was rushed to Govt Stanley Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival by doctors. Police said Surya had fought with Jagan of Nehru Nagar, Tondiarpet, a few weeks ago. Police are searching for Jagan and gang for Dharma’s murder.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, police arrested three people in connection with the murder of P Raasaiya in Thiruvottiyur. Raasaiya was hacked to death by Murali and his friends, Samuel and Jeeva, near the Thiruvottiyur bus terminus late on Monday, police said. All three suspects were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.
Earlier on Monday, 24-year-old Dinesh was killed by a gang inside a bar attached to a Tasmac outlet at Korukkupet.
Police arrested suspects V Santhosh, Arun Kumar, Sivakumar, and Lokesh in connection with the case. Korukkupet police inspector Yuvaraj was suspended for failing to prevent the crime despite receiving an alert from the city intelligence wing.