Prime Accused Shot in Cumbum Forest, Critical

The prime accused in the Usilampatti police constable murder case, B Ponvannan (27), was shot in the chest and back by police allegedly after he knifed a cop and attempted to escape in the Cumbum forests on Saturday.

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Ponvannan has been admitted at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai for treatment and is in a critical condition, Madurai Superintendent of Police B K Aravind said.

Three other suspects from his gang—Sivanesan, Prabhakaran and Baskaran—were also arrested, he added. Aravind told TNIE that Cumbum police arrested all four accused persons, including Ponvannan, from Kerala and handed them over to the Madurai police team. "When the Madurai police team took them to an area in Cumbum on the highway in the western ghats, Ponvannan took out a weapon he had concealed and assaulted a police constable. He then attempted to assault an inspector who shot him in self-defence," he said.