Eight murder-accused held under Goonda Act in Salem

SALEM: District collector

V Sampath

issued an order on Thursday to arrest eight accused under the

Goondas Act

. The accused were involved in two different murder cases.

Three accused have been identified as M Baskar alias 'Kozhi' Baskar, 39, of Chellakuttikadu in Annathanapatti and his accomplices M Sankar alias

Deena Sankar

, 33, of Neimandi Arunachalam Street in Gugai, and A Sankar alias 'Kambi Machine' Sankar, 44, of

Kabilar Street

in Shevapet.

On September 13, the trio along with four other accomplices - Deva, Sathish, Velayudam and Manisekar - robbed Rs 10,000 at knifepoint from K Subash, 36, a resident of Amani Kondalampatti. The Kondalampatti police registered a case and arrested the accused persons and remanded them in prison.

During inquiry, the police learned that the trio and their accomplices kidnapped 17-year-old Sakthivel and murdered him on September 11. The Annathanapatti police registered a case. "Kondalampatti police arrested all the accused for robbery when Annathanapatti police launched a search for the gang in connection with the murder," the Salem city police said. Kozhi Baskar is a notorious rowdy and history-sheeter.

The collector issued the order based on a request from the city police commissioner Sanjay Kumar. The order copy was served to the accused at Salem Central Prison, where they are currently lodged.

Similarly, another five accused, who were involved in a murder case, were arrested under Goondas Act. According to Attaiyampatty police, V Ganesan, 45, of Sidderikadu near Attaiyampatty, was a honey seller. On October 7, a quarrel erupted between Ganesan and a local resident M Jothi, 27, over the quality and quantity of honey sold by Ganesan.

During the quarrel, Jothi's relatives Pannerselvam, 41, Devarajan, 26, Manikandan, 24, and Tamilselvan, 49, of the same area kidnapped Ganesan in a car and attacked him with wooden logs. Ganesan sustained grave injuries. Later, the gang threw him near a lake in the village and fled from the spot. The villagers took him and admitted to Salem Government Hospital for treatment. "However, he succumbed to his injuries on October 9," Attayampatti police said. The police registered a case against the five accused including Jothi, Pannerselvam, Devarajan, Manikandan and Tamilselvan and arrested them.

The Collector issued the order on Wednesday evening against the five accused and the order copy was served to them at prison on Thursday.