Around 2.30 a.m. on January 8, 2005, an armed gang descended on the house of AIADMK MLA K. Sudarsanam at Thanakulam in Tiruvallur district near Chennai. As one of them stood outside holding a gun, the other members broke open the front door with an axe and began attacking the inmates with iron rods. Sudarsanam, who rushed out of his room, was shot dead with a single-barrel muzzle-loaded gun. The gang escaped with cash, jewels and mobile phones.
The dacoity-cum-murder shook Tamil Nadu, raising questions about law and order. Back then, there were hardly any CCTV camera. The only clue the police had was that the gangsters spoke in Hindi. Just as a team led by the then Inspector-General of Police, S.R. Jangid, was figuring out the details, forensic experts found that a fingerprint lifted from the scene matched with that of a criminal involved in 24 dacoity cases since 1996.
