Murder accused attacks cop with sickle in Dindigul; shot in leg

DINDIGU: A murder accused was shot in the leg when he attacked a police constable with a sickle and tried to escape near a graveyard at Malapatti locality in Dindigul on Friday.

The police said that D Richard Sachin (26), a rowdy who sustained a gunshot wound on the knee of the right leg, and the injured police constable Arun Prasad were admitted to Dindigul Government Medical College Hospital for treatment.

The case was that a notorious history-sheeter, S Mohammed Irfan (24), was hacked to death by an armed gang near the Dindigul bus stand last Saturday. His friend, also a rowdy-sheeter, Abdullah (25), sustained grievous injuries in the attack and is undergoing treatment in a private hospital.

Irfan and Abdullah were accused in the murder of a DMK man, ‘Pattarai’ Saravanan, in July 2023. To avenge the murder of Pattarai Saravanan, a six-member gang murdered Mohammed Irfan.

While four of the accused in the Mohammed Irfan murder case, including Richard Sachin, were arrested by the police on Thursday evening, two others surrendered before the Dindigul court.

Richard Sachin was taken to the graveyard at Malapatti by a police team, led by Dindigul North Police Station Inspector, V Venkatachalapathy, to recover the deadly weapons used in the murder of Mohammed Irfan this morning.

Richard Sachin, under the guise of showing the weapons buried in the land, suddenly pulled out a sickle and attacked the police constable, Arun Prasad, inflicting bleeding injuries on his hand, and attempted to escape. When the police warned him not to flee, he again attempted to attack the cops. Following this, Venkatachalapathy fired on the right leg of Richard Sachin in self-defence and overpowered him.

Senior police officials visited the scene of the crime and held an inquiry. Further investigations are under way.