PMK functionary shot dead near Gudiyatham in Vellore, accused shot in the leg by police

Gnanavel, a functionary of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in Vellore district, was shot dead with a country-made gun at a bus stop in Sengundram village near Gudiyatham on the evening of November 9. Police arrested the main accused, a history-sheeter named Poovarasan, and shot him in the leg early on Tuesday when he tried to escape during a weapon recovery.

Gnanavel, a farmer in his mid-40s, was standing near the village bus stop with a friend, Raghu, a 40-year-old hotel chef who is also a PMK functionary. Both are from Sengundram. Raghu was hit by bullets in the hand and shoulder and is being treated. Reports say Gnanavel was shot around ten times in the face, neck and chest.

How the shooting happened

According to the police account, Poovarasan had a long-running grudge against Gnanavel. He is said to have phoned Gnanavel to ask where he was, was told he was at the bus stop with Raghu, and arrived soon after. One account says he took the gun from a house across the road after an argument.

It was the Deepavali week, and the sound of the shots was at first taken for firecrackers. Residents rushed to the spot when they heard Gnanavel cry out and took both men to the Gudiyatham Government Hospital, where doctors declared Gnanavel dead. His body was later moved to Vellore Government Medical College Hospital for the post-mortem.

More than 200 PMK workers, relatives and villagers gathered outside the hospital, and police from several stations were deployed. After party functionaries intervened, the family agreed to move the body for the post-mortem. Gudiyatham taluk police registered a case.

The accused

Police say Poovarasan has 13 criminal cases against him, including murder, attempt to murder, robbery and ganja peddling, and that he has been detained several times under the Goondas Act.

He was held shortly after the killing and is said to have told police where he had hidden the gun, in the foothills near Sengundram. Early on Tuesday, a police team took him there to recover it. According to the police account, he pulled out a concealed knife, attacked a sub-inspector and tried to run into the hilly ground. The sub-inspector fired in self-defence and hit him in the leg. Both men were taken to Gudiyatham Government Hospital and then moved to Vellore Government Medical College Hospital.

Reactions

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss said on Tuesday he was alarmed by the deteriorating law and order situation in Tamil Nadu. He condemned the murder and said the victim had been targeted by an illegal deer hunter whom he had earlier confronted. “I warned back then about the spread of a gun culture in the unified Vellore district,” he said, adding: “The growth of gun culture is extremely dangerous.” He urged the government and police to “take swift action to uproot this gun culture” before law and order worsens further.

He also recalled that another PMK functionary, advocate Chakravarthy, was shot dead in broad daylight in Sholinghur last year.

DMK MP Kanimozhi used the killing to attack the TVK government. Addressing Chief Minister Vijay on X, she wrote: “Chief Minister, don’t think that the people will always tolerate everything!” She said that no matter how many more lives were lost, the Chief Minister would not speak up. No statement from the state government on the killing had been reported at the time of writing.

A violent Deepavali week

The Vellore killing was one of about ten murders reported across Tamil Nadu around Deepavali, including those of a Special Sub-Inspector in Theni, a 20-year-old IT employee in Chennai and two 17-year-old daily wage labourers. It follows a jailbreak in Theni district on October 26, when seventeen undertrial prisoners escaped.

What happens next

Poovarasan is under treatment at Vellore Government Medical College Hospital, and Gudiyatham taluk police are investigating the murder case. No date for the next step has been announced.

The PMK’s demand, repeated by Anbumani, is a crackdown on gun culture in the unified Vellore region. The crowd that gathered outside the Gudiyatham hospital on the night of the killing showed the anger among party cadres in the district.