CHENNAI: The 21-year-old youth who recently shot his friend near Tambaram, Kancheepuram district, allegedly confessed to have shot his friend as refused to be a henchman. Police also seized the gun that he used to shoot the 19-year-old polytechnic student, Mukesh, on November 5.
Police said, they got information on the whereabouts of the gun after the accused, Vijay, was taken into police custody and questioned.
Vijay initially told the police that he found the gun in a garbage bin and had also disposed of it off in the Kovalam sea, after he 'accidentally shot' Mukesh.
However, after repeatedly police grilling, Vijay confessed that he had thrown the gun in a stone quarry pond in Nallampakkam near Vandalur.
Based on the information, cops on Saturday night searched the place and recovered the country-made gun. Vijay confessed that he shot Mukesh as the latter refused to join ‘Koolie Padai’.
Police said Vijay was employed by one local rowdy, K. Selvam, from whom he had borrowed the gun. Police began an investigation into this matter, and are searching for Selvam.
Meanwhile, Selvam (31) of Perumathunallur, Kancheepuram, surrendered before the Theni district court on Monday. He confessed to having handed over the gun to Vijay, but the motive behind the murder is still not known.
It may be recalled that on November 5, Vijay, a food delivery agent working for an online firm, allegedly shot Mukesh (19), student of a polytechnic college with a gun as the latter went to see him at his house in Vengadamangalam village. Vijay then absconded with the weapon, as the police launched a search for him.
Vijay’s brothers and a sister-in-law were in the house when they heard the gunshot. As Vijay's siblings rushed to trace the source of the sound, Vijay ran past them, leaving Mukesh lying in a pool of blood.
They immediately rushed Mukesh to a hospital in Vandalur, from where he was referred to the government hospital in Chromepet. Since Mukesh suffered serious injuries to his head, doctors there referred him to the Rajiv Gandhi GH. But, he died on the way to the hospital.
On Wednesday, Vijay surrendered in a court in the district.
Thalambur police inspector Palani filed for Vijay’s custody in the Chengalpet court and was granted three days for an inquiry till Monday. After investigation, he was produced in the Chengalpet court on Monday. Magistrate Gayathri Devi remanded him to judicial custody.
