Gang attacks put police under pressure

The difficulty in controlling the gangs which have their base in the southern districts is that they mainly operate on caste lines, says S. SHIVAKUMAR

CHENNAI, MAY 11. Settling scores by politically-oriented groups have acquired a distinct genre in southern districts. For sometime now, it has cast its shadow in Chennai among politicians and businessmen, exposing the rickety nature of policing in a metropolis of over 50 lakh residents.

Thursday's brazen attack on the DMK election office in Purasawalkam and the murderous attempt on the Assembly Deputy Speaker, Mr. Parithi Ilamvazuthi, by a gang allegedly led by the rival candidate, Mr. John Pandian, has brought the police under greater pressure, because there was little response from their side.

``The prospect of a clash or attack in the constituency was well known, so how do the police explain their poor preparedness during a polling day'', political workers wonder.

The gang dared police and exposed the extent of training and preparedness of Personal Security Officers (PSO). Mr. Ilamvazuthi's PSO reportedly confessed that things happened too fast for him to react and hence he fled along with the MLA.

Even more puzzling, the allegedly armed rival group drove to Mr.Ilamvazhuthi's party office where he was present, with a police vehicle in tow - which was following him for poll security. Was this posse not carrying a wireless communication set to alert the control room ? Was it unaware of the weapons they possessed, or the reason why they were rushing to the rival candidate's office?

Most gang members involved in the attack were from South Tamil Nadu, preliminary enquiries show. This is not the first incident of gangs from the ``south'' striking terror in the city.

Only a couple of months ago, a Thevar leader, `Katta' Durai, was hacked to death in an STD booth in Egmore. They had been tailing him for a couple of days and struck at the ripe moment. The murder was a fall-out of a long pending rivalry between two groups.

``Speed and violence for the sake of violence is the trademark of criminals from the south'' says a senior police officer. Though there has been a free movement of these criminals from south in the city, they have refrained from unleashing violence of the kind seen in Thursday's attack at Purasawalkam.

Several businessmen in the city especially in north Chennai seek the support of ruthless gangs. It is common to find groups being provided with all facilities by businessmen who deal in real estate and in liquor. Semi-literate youth from the South are used to settle scores. It is also learnt that while the main gang members are sent for the operation, others are made to surrender in connection with the crime and they are later brought out on bail. The actual culprits are rarely made to surrender, this again is a common practice in other districts which has been acquired by the city. Some of these gang members have grown to form their own groups.

The dreaded gangsters Kabilan and Asaithamby who became notorious as `Southerners' were small-timers who grew into thugs thriving on extortion, from businessmen with illegal dealings. This set of gangsters were shot dead in police encounters.

Some gangsters who manage to strike it rich have floated their own caste-based organisations, police records say. For instance, a gangster from North Chennai who had been also detained under the Goondas Act and who was attacked about six months ago, is now a leader of a caste outfit.

A few others from the South which created a flutter in the city include `Revolver' Murugan and Moolakadai Pannaiyar, police sources say. The former was arrested on charges of opening fire and snatching a chain in south Chennai. Murugan was also charged with robbing from jewellery shops in the city.

A senior city police officer says that the difficulty in controlling these gangs which have their base in the southern districts is that they mainly operate on caste lines. The crux of any issue would boil down to a caste conflict and thus peace moves prove futile. This is not the case with city-grown gangs where the usual motive is money. There are several cases when gang members switch loyalties for money alone.

The lack of merit-based recruitment, political support and the caste factor in recruiting police personnel also have crippled professional functioning, retired officers point out.

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Section  : Southern States
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