Chennai: City police commissioner Ashutosh Shukla, on Thursday, during his maiden formal press conference after the change-of-guard said that the police was yet to rule out the possibility of an IPL betting angle in the Sowcarpet shootout in which a 50-year-old travel agent was killed.
Responding to a query on the murder of Babu Singh, Shukla initially said the IPL betting angle could not be speculated unless and until such details emerge following the arrest of the murder suspect.
“The motive behind the murder is unclear. However, we cannot rule an IPL betting angle as a reason behind it,” he said. Babu Singh, a native of Rajasthan, was shot dead on Erulappan Street in Sowcarpet on May 3, around 6 pm.
According to the senior police officer, the manner in which the assailant cocked the pistol attested that he should either be an ex-serviceman or a trained hitman in using firearms.
“No gangster in Chennai is as affluent as the assailant in handling the pistol. Therefore, we suspect he should be from either from Karnataka or from Rajasthan,” the officer added.
Perusal of all the available CCTV footage rendered that the suspect had a wordy altercation with the deceased before opening fire. The assailant and his accomplice’s images were released by the cops, who also announced rewards for information leading to the suspects.
