CHENNAI: A history-sheeter with six murder cases pending against him, was arrested in Redhills on Saturday, after he escaped following a failed attempt to rob a restaurant manager at knifepoint on Friday. He has been identified as Periyapalayam Thanikachalam.

“Investigation revealed that a group of his friends - Madhavaram Prabhakaran, Kavankarai Vanamamalai, Manikandan, Parthiban, Anthony Doss, Surya, Chennai Prakash, Chandrakumar, Iniya, Sylu, Subash and a few others, had formed a group with the intention to grab unclaimed lands in Puzhal and Redhills area, with the help of forged documents. All the other accused are yet to be secured,” said a police officer. 

Police said that Thanikachalam has six murder cases pending against him for the last five years. While he was remanded in judicial custody on Saturday, a special team has been formed to secure the others who are absconding. In another case, Puzhal police arrested a history-sheeter for robbing a pedestrian. The accused, E Chandrakumar (33) of Sholavaram, robbed Devakumar on Ponneri-Redhills road on Friday and was secured within hours.