CHENNAI/JAIPUR: An autopsy has determined that a single bullet hit Police inspector S Periyapandian in the armpit and punctured his left lung, killing him instantly, when a police team on Wednesday stormed the hideout in Rajasthan‘s Pali district of the prime suspects in a Rs 1 crore heist at a Chennai jewellery outlet on November 16.

Hours after doctors at Jodhpur Government Hospital released an autopsy report on Maduravoyal inspector Periyapandian, 48, the Rajasthan Police on Thursday said they had arrested Dinesh Kumar Jat alias Dinesh Chowdary, 20, of Jodhpur, an aide of heist mastermind Nathuram Jat, 28, of Pali, and one of the two men the Chennai police team sought to apprehend in Wednesday’s botched operation.

Nathuram, who was in the hideout, a makeshift shelter in an old brick kiln in Ramavas village, when the Chennai police raided it at 2.30am on Wednesday, escaped from the scene, a senior Rajasthan police officer said.

The police operation ended in a chaotic scuffle in which one of the occupants of the shack grabbed the service revolver of Periyapandian’s colleague, Kolathur inspector T M Munisekar, and fired one fatal round at Periyapandian.

“Nathuram’s wife Manju Devi, accomplices Deepa Ram and Tejaram Jat and a few of his relatives, who were also in the hideout, also gave the Chennai police team the slip,” the officer said. “Nathuram and his family lived in a house near the brick kiln, where Tejaram worked as a security guard.”

Senior Rajasthan Police Officers, sources said, have pulled up Pali district police officers for an intelligence failure because of their complete lack of knowledge of Nathuram’s hideout. Nathuram faces several criminal cases in various Rajasthan police jurisdictions.

The team had with Rajasthan police on November 30 arrested four suspected members of the gang in Pali for the burglary, in which the suspects drilled a hole in the ceiling of Mahalakshmi Jewellery in Chennai, Kolathur, and made away with 3.5kg of gold and 8kg of silver in the afternoon of November 16.

But the Chennai police team had not informed their Rajasthan counterparts about Wednesday’s operation, Pali district superintendent of police Deepak Bhargav said. Statements made by officers also indicated that there has only been limited coordination between the Chennai and Rajasthan police in the effort to bust the gang of burglars.
Rajasthan police officers said they had, via mobile towers in the vicinity of the hideout, determined that Mahalakshmi Jewellery proprietor Mukesh Jain probably accompanied the Chennai police team: They found a cellphone number that he uses on a list of SIM cards data from the towers showed were active in the area over the past fortnight.
Rajasthan police officers said they would, nonetheless, provide the Chennai police with whatever help they require. “We have some leads and hope to narrow down on the suspects soon,” an investigating officer said.
The Tamil Nadu police brought Periyapandian’s body to Chennai at 12.30pm on Thursday and were to hand it over to the inspector’s family in Moovirundhali near Tirunelveli late in the night. Source : timesofindia