Heist suspects killed in encounter

CHENNAI: In the biggest ‘encounter’ killing in the state, police gunned down five north Indian youth inside their residence in Velachery, in the early hours of Thursday. Commissioner of Police J K Tripathy claimed that “prime facie investigati­on” showed that the deceas­ed were involved in the rece­nt bank heists at Perungudi and Keelkattalai in which a total of Rs 33.5 lakh was stolen.The shootout came a day after the police released CCTV footage showing one of the victims conducting a recce at a nationalised bank in Thoraipakkam, and anno­unced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for any credible information on the youth. Employees of both banks had reportedly identified him as a member of the gang that executed the robberies at gunpoint. “We received a tip-off around midnight that the man in the video clipping was staying at a house on A L Mudali Second Street, Netaji Road, Velachery,” Tripathy told a crowded press conference on Thursday.A 14-member police team, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Adyar) M Sudhakar, rushed to the area and surrounded the suspect’s flat, located on the ground floor of a three-storey TNHB building. “They went to check and found the door locked,” the Commissioner said. “On spotting the police, the inmates of the house opened fire through the window,” he added. Hearing the “noise”, people came out of their houses and there was a “threat to their security”. Sensing this, police warned the men to stop firing and surrender. However, they did not heed, and the personnel returned fire in the inte­rest of “public safety and self defence”, Tripathy said.In the ensuing 15-minute gun battle, inspectors P Ravi (Teynampet) and Christian Jayasil (Thoraipakkam) sustained injuries on the left arm and hip. On breaking open the door, police found five injured men and rushed them to Government General Hospital in Royapettah, where the doctors declared them “brought dead”. Their bodies were later sent to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for autopsy.Tripathy said four identity cards and a driving licence were recovered from the house. The youth were identified as M Vinod Kumar (seen in the CCTV footage), Chandrika Ray, Vinay Prasad and Harish Kumar, all from Bihar, and Abhay Kumar of West Bengal. “But their identity has to be confirmed,” he pointed out.