Accused who jumped bail after murdering AIADMK cadre held

uburban police have arrested a man who had gone underground after he was let out on bail in connection with the murder of AIADMK cadre M R Ravi which took place in 2006. Ravi was murdered near Thirumangalam while he was traveling with his girlfriend, a small-time actress from Andhra Pradesh.

The arrested person, D Vinayagam alias Vinayagamurthy, is mentioned in the first information report as the third accused in the murder case. He was arrested shortly after the murder and was remanded in prison. But he came out on bail when the case was shifted to the Poonamallee fast track court. He and another accused Kozhi' Ravi then went underground in spite of several warrants issued against him by the fast track court. Meanwhile, Ravi was arrested in 2009. The judge eventually split the case and proceeded with the trial against the other 16 accused, given them double life terms in 2008.

CONSOLING FAMILY: Former Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa at the residence of M.R. Ravi, Ambattur AIADMK town secretary, who was murdered.

"We got a tip off about Vinayagam's movements in the city and a special team was formed under Korattur police inspector G Augustin Paul Sudhagar. On Saturday evening, the team intercepted a Tata Indica vehicle bearing Andhra Pradesh registration number (AP 03 AC 8403) near Thirumangalam junction and picked up the occupants. Vinayagam and two others including his girlfriend were in the car. Vinayagam was taken away for interrogation," a police officer said.

Meanwhile, some of Vinayagam's friends on Saturday night sent text messages to many journalists and lawyers, saying he had been taken into custody by the police illegally and that he would be killed in an encounter on Sunday. Police sources said Vinayagam would be remanded and that the fast track court judge would conduct a separate trial for him.

Ravi, who was Ambattur town secretary of AIADMK and a resident of Mogappair, was murdered brutally by a six-member gang at his office on Yadhava Street in Padi on June 2, 2006. The assailants not only shot at him but also hacked him. A few months later, one of the accused, Nagoor Meeran, was killed in a police encounter near Villivakkam. The main accused, Mogappair Raja, the son of a retired IAS officer, was later let off after police found no evidence to substantiate his connivance in the case.

After the murder, former chief minister J Jayalalithaa who visited Ravi's house had said, "Ravi was facing a threat to his life from DMK men even before the Assembly elections (in 2006). As the AIADMK was in power then, he was provided with police protection. However, immediately after the DMK came to power, the protection was withdrawn, resulting in his murder."