Chennai: Notorious gangster ‘CD’ Mani (31), known for illegal real estate deals, was arrested by the anti-gangster squad of Chennai police from his hideout in Sirperumbudur, on Sunday. Mani was arrested after secret information came in a tipoff.
“He was connected in nearly 30 cases including murder, extortion and others,”the police said.
‘CD’ Mani alias P. Manikandan, of T Nagar, had risen to the fore after he murdered Karthik, the leader of a rival group along with his associates, in 2012.
After eliminating, Mani established himself as a notorious hooligan in South Chennai and helped real estate businessmen to settle deals. Mani may be linked to as many as eight murder cases.
On January 11, 2016, Mani’s associates had attempted to assassinate ‘Gate’ Jaga alias Jagannathan in broad daylight in West Saidapet, in which Mani is the accused.
Mani had risen from a humble background and studied up to class 12. He sold pirated CDs on Thomas road for a living, which is how he got his moniker.
Mani also worked as a driver for some time. He along with ‘Vellai’ Kumar of Teynampet was briefly involved in cable TV business.
The duo used to threaten all other small operators and forced them to sell their connections to them Mani avoided carrying a mobile phone for fear he may be tracked easily. He also changed his cars frequently.
On the same day Mani was arrested, another notorious gangster Binu Pappachan who had surrendered to the police in February was granted bail by Poonamallee court on Sunday. He was released from Vellore prison following the bail order.
