Trichy: Cop who chased down goat thieves hacked to death

TRICHY: A special sub-inspector (SSI) attached to Navalpattu police station in Trichy was hacked to death by two men who were making off with a goat after a 10-km bike chase to bordering Pudukottai in the early hours of Sunday.
S Boominathan, 50, who was on patrol duty, had even caught hold of the duo but the two suddenly attacked him with sharp weapons leaving him dead.
Boominathan, along with another policeman Chithiraivelu, was on patrol duty at 2 am when he spotted two men on a bike with a goat. Suspecting they were goat thieves, he tried to intercept them, but they fled.
Boominathan chased them on his bike while his colleague followed on his two-wheeler. The fleeing men headed towards Keeranur along village roads. When they neared Palathupatti village near Kalamavur railway gate in Pudukottai district, Boominathan caught hold of the two as the subway filled with rainwater was found blocked with stones.
After taking control of the two, the SSI called Chithiraivelu on his phone and asked him to come over. However, the two accused suddenly attacked Boominathan with sharp weapons from behind and fled. With deep cut injuries on his head, he succumbed to grievous injuries on the spot. By the time his associate reached the spot, Boominathan had died of injuries, police said.
The SSI is survived by his wife B Kavitha, 45, and son B Kugan, 21. Condoling the death, chief minister M K Stalin announced Rs 1 crore aid to the bereaved family and a government job to one of the family members.
A native of Nagapattinam, Boominathan had settled at Cholamadevi near Thiruverumbur. His body was handed over to his family after performing postmortem at MGMGH and was buried at a graveyard in Cholamadevi with full police honours. ADGP (Law and Order) P Thamaraikannan, DIG of Trichy range A Saravana Sundar and Trichy SP Sujit Kumar and higher police officials attended the funeral. Keeranur police registered a case under section 302 of IPC and commenced investigation based on CCTV footage at a building on the road.
Trichy range DIG A Saravana Sundar told TOI that the policeman trailing Boominathan had reached the spot a few minutes late. “We have vital clues and the culprits will be caught soon,” he added. Various political leaders including PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, AMMK leader TTV Dinakaran, former AIADMK leader Sasikala and BJP state president K Annamalai extended their condolences to the bereaved family.