The police on Thursday arrested 40-year-old gangster Gnanam alias Thirugnanam, who was in hiding since 2008 after allegedly committing the murder of a lawyer, Rajinikanth, inside the Egmore court campus. He was nabbed in Kodungaiyur. Spotting the policemen, Gnanam, who was also a lawyer, tried to scale a compound wall and escape but failed and was injured. He was caught, treated at a hospital and remanded in judicial custody.
Acting on a tip-off, a special police team on Thursday night surrounded a house in MR Nagar near Kodungaiyur where Gnanam, a resident of TP Chathiram, was said to have been seen.
According to the police, Gnanam was staying on the first floor of a house. The team led by ICF inspector Natarajan went to the first floor with some police personnel. "Gnanam suddenly pulled out a knife from the house and tried to assault the policemen. Later, he jumped from the first floor to the next building, descended to the ground and tried to scale the compound wall but slipped and fell down. The police chased and finally nabbed him," a police officer said.
The injured gangster was then taken to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for treatment before being remanded in judicial custody. Further investigations are on.
The police said Gnanam had been involved in 12 cases, including three murders — one of which was that of the lawyer who was done to death on February 22, 2008 on the premises of an Egmore court. In one of the 12 cases, a non-bailable warrant had been pending against him for the past one-and-a-half years.
