The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Masked men kill girl, escape with cash, gold

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Masked men kill girl, escape with cash, gold

By Our Staff Reporter

Pavithra

CHENNAI, JULY 22. The spurt in crime incidents in the city has spilled over to neighbouring districts as well.

In a gruesome attack, masked dacoits broke into a contractor's house today and murdered his teenaged daughter before escaping with gold and cash at Beemanthangal near Sriperumbudur.

The assailants made away with gold jewellery weighing 45 sovereigns and cash of Rs. 27,500.

Around 1.30 a.m., the four-member Hindi-speaking gang gained entry into the house of Jayachandran (41), after attacking an inmate, Balakrishnan (65) and drugging the dog in the house.

The culprits attacked Balakrishnan when he came out on hearing the dog barking.

When Vijayalakshmi, the contractor's wife, came out with her daughter Pavithra, after hearing the Balakrishnan's moans, the armed men forced their way in.

They attacked Ms. Vijayalakshmi when she refused to part with the almirah key and resisted the attempts by the intruders.

On seeing her mother being attacked, Pavithra raised an alarm for help. Fearing that her shouts would invite attention, a gang member gagged her. Another gangster garrotted her. Pavithra died on the spot.

Attacked with iron rods

The gangsters attacked Jayachandran and his son Vasanth with iron rods when they climbed down from the first floor. After all the inmates fell unconscious, the gang members packed the jewellery and cash and escaped in a waiting car. All the four injured --Jayachandran, his wife Vijayalakshmi, son Vasanth and their relative Balakrishnan--were admitted to Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Porur, near here. The police said the condition of Mr. Balakrishnan was critical.

Identity established

K. Prem Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Kancheepuram, said the identity of the gang involved in the attack was established. "They come from Muzaffarpur in Bihar and operate in various parts of the country in small splinter groups. They seem to choose houses located close to main roads. After attacking the inmates, they remove the cash and jewellery and flee the scene," he said.

During March this year, a gang attacked Gajendran, a DMK party cadre, and his watchman at Tiruverkadu, a western suburb of Chennai, and decamped with cash and gold. The police said the brutality of attack and murder at Sriperumbudur today resembled the modus operandi of the gang involved in the Tiruverkadu attack. Special parties have been formed to trace the culprits.

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