Police fire shots as murder accused tries to flee from custody

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru:

Madanayakanahalli police on Friday morning opened fire at a murder accused after he allegedly attacked a constable with a machete in a bid to escape from custody. The accused was identified as Rajarajan, a rowdy sheeter of Chamarajpet and KP Agrahara police stations in the city.

According to sources from police, Rajarajan was recently arrested by the Madanayakanahalli police in connection with the murder of his friend, Natarajan, whose body was found inside the premises of a waste paper recycling unit near Machohalli on November 15.

The police said that Rajarajan and his friends had fled to Shiradi after allegedly killing Natarajan in a drunken brawl. “A team of cops, who were sent to track their movements, followed them to Shirdi but could not nab them. However they received credible information about the gang’s return to the city.

Following this, Rajarajan was arrested along with four of his accomplices three days back,” an officer from Madanayakanahalli police station said. During a probe, it was revealed that Rajarajan had allegedly killed Natarajan over an old conflict.

It was also revealed that the accused had hidden several lethal weapons on the outskirts of the city. In order to recover his weapons, a team of police took the accused to conduct a spot Mahazar near NICE Road junction at Navile Layout in the morning. “As the cops recovered several machetes and daggers, the accused allegedly attacked one of the constables, Haji Namdar, with a machete in a bid to escape,” the officer added.

Inspector BS Manjunath issued a warning and fired in the air before shooting the accused in the leg to stop him from fleeing. He was taken to a hospital along with the constable. With the growing number of rowdy sheeters operating especially on the city outskirts, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law & Order, Alok Kumar had issued directives to the state police to keep a tab on the rowdy elements.