On the evening of August 24, 2009, an unidentified man drove his car into the sprawling premises of a sea-facing bungalow in Panaiyur, off East Coast Road (ECR). The residents of the house had no idea of the tragedy that was about to unfold within minutes.

Inside the bungalow lived retired naval captain K. Elangovan, 69, his wife Ramani, 63, their daughter-in-law Vasanthi, 38, and her two children, aged 12 and 8. Her husband, Vidya Shankar, 42 – Elangovan’s son – had gone to the airport to see off a friend.

Elangovan had been trying to sell a property on the outskirts of the city, and Vidya Shankar, who worked in France, had returned to India on a short holiday with his family to visit his parents. They were scheduled to fly back to France in a few days.

At around 5 p.m., the lone intruder, armed with a gun, entered the house and opened fire. Ramani was shot at close range, followed by Elangovan. They were both killed. Vasanthi was also injured in the attack and collapsed, unconscious and bleeding.

“I had never seen him [the accused] before in my life… my father-in-law also did not know who he was,” Vasanthi told investigators later, while undergoing treatment at a private hospital. “He asked us to open all the cupboards and looked for cash. We told him the money was kept inside [bank] lockers. He would not believe us. ‘I will not leave you alone, I will shoot you,’ he said.”

She added: “Finally, he found some cash and said, ‘You lied to me.’ After shooting me, he shot my daughter Priyanka, who was just eight then, and injured her. After the bullets got over, he went to the kitchen and brought a knife. He attacked my 12-year-old son Praveen with it, injuring him.”

An eyewitness explaining to CB-CID officials how the suspect in the double murder case was nabbed at the scene of the crime. DIG G. Venkataraman (left) and SP A. Arun (right), are in the picture. File
| Photo Credit:
M. Karunakaran

Assuming that the elderly couple and their daughter-in-law were dead, the accused began to leave the premises. Before doing so, he told the boy, Praveen, to remain indoors and not to call the police. He also threatened to return and check.

Soon after he left, Vasanthi regained consciousness, locked the door, and alerted her relatives in Kottivakkam by phone and through the driver. The driver arrived within minutes and saw the man standing in front of the house, with bloodstains on his clothes. When he asked the gunman who he was, the suspect pointed the gun at him and confined him within the compound wall of the house.

“He probably came back to look for more money. It appeared that the accused opened fire without any provocation. Almirahs and cupboards in the house were ransacked. He was probably searching for something,” a senior police officer had said.

It was only when some of the driver’s friends and relatives arrived that the accused became frightened and attempted to flee. However, they overpowered him and tied him to a tree. He was roughed up by locals before being handed over to the police.

The armed suspect was identified as Shanmugasundaram alias Rajan, 35, of West Saidapet. A .32 mm pistol was recovered from him. The Neelangarai Police registered a case and recovered ₹2.5 lakh in cash and six sovereigns of gold jewellery from the accused. Rajan was reportedly involved in the real estate business. Another country-made pistol was recovered from his house.

Gunman’s death

The day after the murder-robbery, the police said the lone accused “fainted during interrogation” and was declared dead after he was taken to a private hospital at 3 a.m.

Then Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran said the motive behind the crime appeared to be murder for gain.

Two days later, the Crime Branch-CID took over the investigation, and a special team led by then Superintendent of Police, CB-CID, A. Arun (who is at present the City Police Commissioner), visited the scene of the crime and recorded statements of family members and a few eyewitnesses who helped apprehend the suspect.

DIG G. Venkataraman (left) and SP A. Arun at the scene of crime. File
| Photo Credit:
M. Karunakaran

The police found that the suspect had bought the two pistols in Bihar, and the ammunition (made by ordnance factory) was sourced through an agent. He had used a fake number plate on the car he had come in. The CB-CID further confirmed it was a “clear case of murder for gain.” “Rajan was a total stranger to the family. His only intention was to rob. The modus operandi indicated the possibility of his involvement in other serious crimes, including a triple murder in Ashok Nagar and a double murder in Velachery,” the police said.

Political allegations

Desiya Murpoku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) leader (late) Vijayakant then issued a press statement that there was suspicion among the public that Rajan had revealed the names of some ruling party members before his death in custody. Subsequently, the CB-CID police summoned Vijayakant seeking information on the case, but he refused to appear. (Late) Jayalalithaa, who was then AIADMK general secretary, said an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court would “resolve the mystery shrouding the double murder case.”

Two weeks later, the CB-CID confirmed that only one person was involved in the case. The investigation ruled out the involvement of any politician and found no evidence suggesting a property dispute as the motive.

In a press release, the CB-CID revealed that the Hyundai i10 car used by the accused had been reported stolen on June 24. The vehicle belonged to Kanagathara Flat Promoters of Kodambakkam.

A duplicate car key with the original remote was recovered from the accused by members of the public who apprehended him and handed him over to the police. The stolen car had been found abandoned near the house.

Materials seized from the accused in the case. File
| Photo Credit:
M. Karunakaran

All eyewitnesses confirmed that no one else was seen accompanying or assisting the accused. Although the family owned land in Chennai and other locations, there were no disputes related to any of their property transactions.

The investigation further revealed that the accused, Rajan, had traveled to West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh in May and June 2009, where he was suspected to have procured the weapons. There were also indications that he might have been involved in other criminal cases.

Mr. Arun and his team recovered bus tickets with Bihari script from Rajan’s residence and scrutinised them. These tickets provided a crucial lead that helped the CB-CID arrest a gang — Neeraj Kumar Nirala, 19, Dev Chader Kumar, 20, and Mohammed Pallu, 33 — from Munger district in Bihar, on charges of illegally supplying firearms to Rajan.