Two alleged rowdies were gunned down in an “encounter” by the special team of Avadi City Police in Cholavaram near Chennai, in the early hours of Thursday, October 12, when they attempted to escape from custody, police claimed. 

According to reports, the deceased were identified as Muthu Saravanan and Sathish, residents of Puzhal. The duo were allegedly involved in several murder cases and other crimes. They were accused of killing political party functionaries last year. In February last year, Muthu Saravanan and his associate allegedly killed Parthiban, a member of the AIADMK party. They also killed DMK functionary C Selvam in Madipakkam, according to police.  

Police claimed that they opened fire at Muthu Saravanan and Sathish as they allegedly tried to attack them. Three policemen were injured in the incident, police said. Senior officials rushed to the spot to investigate the matter. 

It must be recalled that the Chennai police killed another man identified as Vishwanathan in a similar manner last month. Police said that Vishwanathan had a criminal background. According to the police, they shot him down when he allegedly attacked a Sub Inspector and tried to escape. Though police said that they killed Vishwanathan in an act of self-defence, the deceased had previously complained about the police conspiring to eliminate him in a staged “encounter.”