The special teams of the city police were outnumbered by the rowdies and their accomplices who had gathered to celebrate history-sheeter Binu’s birthday on Tuesday night. However, they were able to nab the anti-social elements after the villagers helped chase down those who tried to run away, officers said.

“The Malayambakkam villagers played a big role in securing the accused, as they chased and caught many of the history-sheeters,” said Koyambedu Assistant Commissioner John Sundar. 

Sources said the police had told the villagers that those present at the venue were child lifters, following which the locals joined the police to nab the rowdies. 

Though they received tip off about the gathering at around 4.45 pm itself, the police decided to wait patiently till 9 pm for an opportune moment before storming the birthday celebration venue.

“The party started around 6.30 pm, but we waited till 9 pm so that everyone would be drunk. Otherwise, they would have come up with some reason or the other, or even maintain that they were not involved in the party to evade arrest,” said a senior police officer. 

There were five teams headed by assistant commissioners on the task, but still had to whip out their guns to force the rowdies to surrender. Three key persons – Binu, Kanagaraj and Vignesh – escaped in the melee, but the rest were arrested and remanded in judicial custody, added Assistant Commissioner John Sundar. 

Police sources said the participants brought liquor and biriyani to the spot on their own. Since the gathering was planned at Ravi Transports without the owner’s knowledge, he was let off after interrogation. 

Sources said Binu had invited his two rivals – CD Mani and Arumbakkam Radhakrishnan – who did not turn up. Sources also suspect that Binu might have planned the party to eliminate them. Radhakrishnan was an associate of Binu earlier. 

Since he lived in Moorthy Nagar at Vinayagapuram in Choolaimedu, Binu Papachan is known as Choolaimedu Binu. However, he has no cases against him in Choolaimedu police station. There are a total of 15 cases pending against him, including three murders, four attempted murders, two cases of possessing arms and six assault cases. 

The first case against him was registered in Aminjikarai in 1994. He is also called ‘Thalavetti’ Binu as his modus operandi reportedly is to hack his victims on their heads and faces, and burn them. Absconding since 2014, Binu surfaced for the first time on Tuesday. Though a native of Kerala, his mother is said to have worked as a school teacher in the city. 

Among those secured, as many as 13 had Press ID cards, which the police are now investigating. Also, sources say there were also a few lawyers present at the spot, though police did not confirm it. A few of the secured are college students, who were involved in petty cases, said a police official.