KRISHNAGIRI: In a daring attack on the police, a head constable in Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu was stabbed to death by a gang of thieves from neighbouring Karnataka on Thursday morning. Just four hours after the killing of the head constable, one of the thieves, a 19-year-old-boy, who was caught by the police, died. But the Tamil Nadu police claimed the accused teenager died of heart attack.
It was high drama on the streets and on the terrace of a house in Hosur on Wednesday afternoon when a team of cops chased a gang of theives who had snatched a chain from a government teacher. Around 4.30 pm on Wednesday, a government school teacher C.Parvathi, who was riding back home on her two-wheeler, was robbed of her gold chain by four men who came zipping down on two bikes at Uthanapalli. about 18-km from Hosur.
Just half an hour later, a team of police who was conducting vehicle checks, spotted the four men on two bikes at the Hosur inner road junction and asked them to stop. As the four-member gang sped away without stopping, the police became suspicious. Three cops including 49-year-old P.Munusamy chased the thieves and zeroed in on them at the terrace of their friend Prakash’s house in Bharathidasan Nagar near the Hosur railway station.
As the cops surrounded the accused, suddenly, the gang pulled out sharp knives stashed in their trousers’ pocket and stabbed the three cops, leaving them with bleeding injuries. The head constable Munusamy was stabbed twice in his abdomen. Meanwhile, the local residents managed to nab one of the accused, 19-year-old Bujji alias C.Krishnamurthy of K.R.Puram in Bengaluru in neighbouring Karnataka, when he tried to jump off the first floor of the house. The other accused fled the spot.
The head constable, who was in a critical condition, was rushed to a private hospital, but succumbed to bleeding injuries at midnight. The knife had entered deep into the intestines, claiming the life of the head constable who joined service in 1993, a senior police officer told DC. Four hours after the head constable’s death, the accused Bujji was also brought dead to the Hosur government hospital. Police claimed that the teenager had died of cardiac arrest.
Police said they had taken Bijju to Bengaluru to nab the other accused. However, he suffered heart attack on the way to Bengaluru and died, they said.The IG of police West zone, C. Shankar rushed to Hosur to visit the injured constables and console the kin of the head constable who was stabbed to death. “We will conduct a probe as to why the police men were not able to save themselves. In future, required measures will be taken for the safety of the police men while handling criminals,” the IG said.
CM announces Rs 5 lakh for cop’s family:
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday announced Rs 5 lakh as relief for the bereaved family of the head constable who was stabbed to death by a gang of thieves in Hosur on Wednesday.
She also announced Rs 50,000 each for two other policemen who sustained injuries and are being treated in the hospital. In her statement, the Chief Minister said, “I convey my heartfelt condolence to the family members of the head constable Munusamy who lost his life in the attempt to nab the chain snatchers” She further said, “the district collector has been ordered to ensure that the injured police men were given good treatment and wished them to get well soon.”
