This story is from March 11, 2020

Anna Salai bomb attack aftermath: Police begin crackdown on gangs

The city police have started a crackdown on the underworld after the uproar over the March 3 incident when gang war spilled on to Anna Salai with two bikers throwing country-made explosives at an SUV carrying two history-sheeters and triggering panic among other road users.
Anna Salai bomb attack aftermath: Police begin crackdown on gangs
Representative image
CHENNAI: The city police have started a crackdown on the underworld after the uproar over the March 3 incident when gang war spilled on to Anna Salai with two bikers throwing country-made explosives at an SUV carrying two history-sheeters and triggering panic among other road users.
Eight special teams have been formed to arrest gangsters active in the underworld.
In police records, the rowdies are categorised as ‘A-plus’, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. There are about 40 ‘A-plus’ category rowdies active in the city, some of whom have gone underground or are now active in other parts of the state.
On Tuesday, police arrested ‘Pulianthope’ Ezhil, a close associate of history-sheeter ‘Arcot’ Suresh who was arrested in May last year and is cooling his heels in Puzhal prison. A team led by inspector Krishnamurthy cornered Ezhil alias Ezhilarasan at gunpoint at his house at Pulianthope, acting on a tip and laying a trap deploying plainclothes men.
Ezhil has a history sheet record opened at the Pulianthope police station and is accused in about a dozen cases including two murders, two attempts to murder and an extortion. He was earlier detained under the Goondas Act thrice.
Meanwhile, ‘Kakkathoppu’ Balaji and C D Mani, the two gangsters who were in the SUV targeted in the country-bomb attack, have gone to ground. Police sources said they suspect the two are hiding somewhere in Andhra Pradesh to evade arrest.
Police are also on the lookout for ‘Sambo’ Senthil, who they suspect ordered the hit in a bid to become head honcho of the Chennai underworld. In fact, a Madras high court lawyer, Thangaraj, who was driving C D Mani’s SUV when country bombs were thrown at it, and Mani, himself, have given separate complaints to the Teynampet police station demanding action against Senthil. Police arrested a college dropout D Mahesh and a juvenile in connection with the bomb attack. Four men, Johnson, Kamaluddin, Prashanth and Rajasekar, surrendered before a court in Madurai on March 5 and three more suspects, Tamil Selvan, Satish and Harish, surrendered before a court in Tenkasi.
Gang tensions are so high that Puzhal prison officials have shifted the people arrested for the bomb attack to the central prison in Salem to avoid clashes in jail.
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