Man shot dead in Dindigul

In a daring incident, a 26-year-old man, who was shot at and hacked by a gang, succumbed on the way to hospital in Dindigul on Sunday night. The victim has been identified as M Rakeshkumar of Marianathapuram, Dindigul (West).

TS Anbu, IG, south zone, after inspecting the crime spot told reporters that Rakeshkumar took an auction for fishing in a tank (Chettipatti Kula) in his area. This led to rivalry between him and M Prakash, the main suspect in the case, of the same locality.

On Sunday night, when Rakeshkumar was talking to his friends near the tank, a gang led by Prakash came to the spot and opened fire. Rakeshkumar was shot below his chest 6 times on the left side. The gang not wanting to take any chance hacked him too. Though friends rushed him to the hospital, Rakeshkumar succumbed on the way, Dindigul Taluk Station Inspector D Bastin Thinakaran said.

Based on a complaint lodged by the father of the deceased, Dindigul Taluk police have registered a case under Sections 302 of IPC and under the Arms Act. In a swift action, special teams formed to probe the case, nabbed eight men in connection with the death. Some of the arrested have been identified as Prakash (36), Maria Prabu alias ‘Sundal’ Prabu (37), Ganeshamurthy (23) and Johnsurya (27). The police have also seized a country gun and two machetes. The gun seems to have been made by following tutorials from some YouTube channels. It may be pointed out that Rakeshkumar was accused in an assault case booked in 2019 and he often used to cause nuisance.