Chennai: In a first, the city police picked up two hit-squad members from Pune who killed a Chennai travel agent in Sowcarpet. In a joint operation with the Maharashtra police, the TN cops swooped on the gunmen for hire. Efforts are on to locate a third man, who is believed to have hired the hit-squad and who may have more information on the motive behind the daylight murder on a busy street.
The duo, identified as Rakesh and Tikku, both from Nagpur, were picked up from an undisclosed location in Pune. They are being questioned at a secret location. The cops have also managed to seize a country made pistol from Rakesh’s possession and the weapon is believed to have been used for gunning down the victim.
“We have recovered the pistol, which will be sent to the forensic laboratory for a ballistic match with the help of the 0.762 mm bullet extracted from the victim’s body. The duo is part of the hit-squad and Rakesh is the one who opened fire at Babu Singh, (50), who was running a travels business, on Erulappan street, in Sowcarpet. Rakesh had confessed to committing the murder for a fee of Rs 1 lakh and his antecedents are being verified”, said a senior police official privy to the investigation.
On Monday, Senthill Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Flower Bazaar, rushed to Maharashtra after his counterparts intimated the CoP Ashutosh Shukla about positive identification of Rakesh with the help of the CCTV images shared with them.
Preliminary investigations point to a complex issue that may have had its roots in Babu Singh’s native place in Rajasthan. More details may emerge following the arrest of Hakkeem who is also wanted in the shootout.
Singh, a native of Naradra village, Sirohi district, Rajasthan, moved into the city about two decades ago while his two elder male siblings are living in their native place. He set up the Shivshakti Travels on Wall Tax Road and shifted his office to Erulappan Street in 2008. He was known to have helped his local contacts in terms of solving domestic and other disputes, including financial matters.
