Gunrunner’s double life ends, held after 12 years

CHENNAI: A former small arms supplier, who changed his identity and was living a quiet life with his family in Chennai masquerading as a businessman, was arrested by the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Friday for allegedly supplying pistols to suspects involved in a 2011 double-murder in Kanniyakumari.

The lucky break happened after the Avadi city police arrested a trio with a 9mm pistol a couple of days ago, which led to the apprehension of the gunrunner who was stealthily carrying on his business.

The arrested man was identified as Sadasivam of Vadaseri in Nagercoil. He was wanted in the murder of Arumugam, a forest department official, and his wife Yogeshwari. The couple was shot dead in November 2011 in Suseendram while returning home after attending a wedding.

After the double murder became a sensational case, he changed his identity to Surendar and shifted to Chennai. He has since been running a construction and finance business.

Police had arrested 13 people, including Sahayam, a personal assistant to a former forest minister. Sahayam was related to Yogeshwari and had hired henchmen to eliminate her family after a personal dispute. The arrested persons had then confessed to the investigators about procuring guns from a person named Sadasivam. However, the suspect went into hiding and was never caught.

A couple of days ago, Avadi city police arrested Praveen (24) of Aranvoyal Kuppam, and Sunil (23) and Naresh Kumar (23) of Meppur during a vehicle checkup at Nazarethpet and seized a 9mm pistol and six bullets from them.

During interrogation, they pointed their fingers at a businessman who helped them procure the gun. Following this, the Organised Crime Intelligence Unit (OCIU) traced the suspect and secured him from an apartment in Saligramam, and handed him over to the CB-CID.