Police shoot at history-sheeter during weapon recovery in Guindy

A special team of police shot ‘High Court’ Maharaja, a history-sheeter, in the leg early on Friday (March 21, 2025), when he allegedly tried to escape after assaulting police personnel as they were attempting to recover his weapons in Guindy.

A special team of police shot ‘High Court’ Maharaja, a history-sheeter, in the leg early on Friday (March 21, 2025), when he allegedly tried to escape after assaulting police personnel as they were attempting to recover his weapons in Guindy.

The police said the case was linked to a previous one in which they had arrested three men who were part of a gang from Thoothukudi. They had come to Chennai to kidnap and murder a jeweller. The prime accused in the case, ‘High Court’ Maharaja, 34, had been absconding at the time, and the police had launched a manhunt to trace him and the other suspects.

A special team of police personnel tracked him down and arrested him at a market in Tirunelveli on Thursday (March 20, 2025) evening. They then brought him to the city and interrogated him at Velachery police station. After recording his statement, the police took him to the Race Course area in Guindy to recover a bike, in which claimed he had concealed a gun and knives. 

A senior police officer said when the special team took him to the area at 4 a.m. on Friday, he attempted to escape after attacking the police personnel in the vehicle. Acting in self-defence, a sub-inspector of police shot him in the leg. He was immoblised and overpowered by the team, the police said. The injured suspect was rushed in an ambulance to Government Royappetah Hospital.

The front glass panel of the police vehicle was also damaged by the accused when he attempted to escape, said police sources.  

Maharaja has more than dozen criminal cases against him for offences including murder, kidnap, and attempt to murder. He was allegedly involved in a kidnap case in Madurai, reportedly at the instigation of the estranged wife of an IAS officer of another State. He had bought a luxury car and a hotel with the proceeds of the crime and sold them later.

Police sources said he, along with his associates, was planning to steal jewellery from the jeweller in Chennai or kidnap him for a hefty ransom. They were camping in the city. On learning about their plan, the city police nabbed his associates.