A gangster was hacked to death near a petty shop in Rallapadi, Tiruvallur district, around 40 km from Chennai, on Tuesday morning.
The police suspect it to be a case of gang rivalry.
Rajendran Krishnan alias ‘Gate’ Rajendran was a prime suspect in six murder cases, including the killing of gangster Viji inside Egmore magistrate court hall in 1996.
According to the Periyapalayam police, the 55-year-old gangster who resided on Dharmaraja Koil Street in Periyapalayam had gone to Rallapadi to buy cigarettes.
“Around 8.20 a.m., a five-member gang in a car charged at him with knives and sickles and hacked him. Rajendran suffered cuts on his head and neck and died on the spot,” said an investigating officer.
Rajendran acquired the alias ‘Gate’ from the police as he lived near Tiruvottiyur railway gate.
In the early 80s, he brewed illicit arrack for a living. Following a business rivalry with Poongavanam Ramamoorthy of Tiruvottiyur, Rajendran killed the former’s aide, Venu, in 1986.
Over the next decade and more, he was involved in a string of murders, most of them due to turf wars and rivalries.
In 2001, Rajendran and his gang hurled country bombs at Ernavur Narayanan, now Nanguneri MLA, in a bid to murder him following a longstanding rivalry.
After being booked in 25 criminal cases, including six murders, the gangster relocated from Chennai to Tiruvallur in 2006, and was engaged in sand quarrying there.
He was arrested by the city police in 2013 after he assaulted a businessman in Madhavaram in an attempt to settle a real-estate deal, said the Tiruvallur police.
Special teams have been formed and a thorough probe is under way to investigate Rajendran’s murder.
