A young man was shot dead by unidentified persons in Marianathapuram near Dindigul district in the wee hours of Monday. Police have detained four assailants who had allegedly opened fire on Rakeshkumar alias Rocky (26), using a country-made gun.
Inspector General of Police (south zone) T. S. Anbu, DIG of Police (Dindigul Range) B. Vijayakumari, Superintendent of Police V. R. Srinivasan and their teams visited the scene of crime.
An initial probe revealed that Rakesh’s father, Manickam, had taken a contract for fishing rights in the Chettikulam tank near Malapatti. Since Sunday night, Rakesh and a few of his friends were camping near the tank to ensure that no one indulged in fishing there. In the early hours of Monday, the assailants, it is said, came on a two-wheeler and opened fire at Rakesh and escaped.
Rakesh’s friends rushed him to Dindigul Government Hospital. However, doctors declared him dead.
Dindigul Taluk Police have registered a case of murder and a sniffer dog, which was deployed, went around the tank.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Anbu said that preliminary inquiries revealed that the motive behind the heinous crime could be due to rivalry over the bidding for fishing rights. It looks like, in a bid to settle score, the rivals had planned and followed Rakesh.
When asked to comment about the weapons used, the IGP said that they have seized the gun. The accused had filled a few pellets in a container and tied it on a wooden log and triggered it. In real sense, it is not a country gun at all.
He recalled that the Dindigul police had recovered many country-made guns and taken stern action, which were in possession by some people living close to the forest areas.
The names of the accused were identified as Prakash (36), son of Mariadas, Mariaprabhu (37), son of Santiago, Ganesamurthi (23), son of Rajendran and John Surya (27), son of Perumal.
The police said that the investigations were inconclusive. There may be a few more arrests.
