Accused shot at as he chased injured cop

Trichy: In the other incident at Mallipattinam in Thanjavur, a special police team shot at a rowdy on his leg after he attacked a special sub-inspector to evade arrest late on Saturday. Police said they opened fire when the accused, who was wanted in a murder case in Tiruvarur a few days ago, chased the injured police officer. The accused, R Praveen, 25, a native of Azhagiri Colony in Tiruvarur, had cases of murder attempt on a sub-inspector of Tiruvarur town station as also robbery pending against him. He was one of the seven accused in the murder of Rajkumar, a functionary of the Tamil outfit ‘Valarum Thamizhagam.’ Rajkumar was hacked to death by a gang at Kamalapuram village in Tiruvarur on March 10 while he was returning after appearing in a court in Tiruvarur in connection with a murder case, police said.Police had already arrested six people in the case, but Praveen has been absconding. Following a tip that he was hiding in Mallipattinam, the team headed by Mayiladuthurai district Manalmedu inspector Rajesh went there on Saturday night and caught him from a secluded place. When special SI Elango, 53, was taking Praveen to the police van, he suddenly pulled out a sickle and hacked him on his right hand. As he sustained injuries the cop started to run away. However, the accused chased Elango with the sickle. Sending danger, inspector Rajesh opened fire and shot him below the left knee. As he fell on the ground police caught hold of him. The team rushed both the injured to the government hospital in Pattukottai. IG G Karthikeyan, Tiruvarur SP TP Suresh Kumar and Thanjavur SP Ashish Rawat visited injured SSI Elango and also conducted an inquiry with the accused. Both were admitted to Thanjavur government medical college hospital. Tiruvarur SP TP Suresh Kumar told TOI that the condition of the accused was stable. “After treatment, the accused can walk as the gunshot is not serious. The police inspector opened fired only to safeguard the special sub-inspector,” he added.