Puducherry history-sheeter ‘Mottai’ Vijay shot dead by police near Cuddalore

‘Mottai’ Vijay, a history-sheeter who was allegedly involved in three incidents of attacks on lorry drivers on the Villupuram-Nagapattinam Highway in the early hours of Wednesday (April 2, 2025), was shot dead by a special police team at M. Pudur near Cuddalore.

‘Mottai’ Vijay, a history-sheeter who was allegedly involved in three incidents of attacks on lorry drivers on the Villupuram-Nagapattinam Highway in the early hours of Wednesday (April 2, 2025), was shot dead by a special police team at M. Pudur near Cuddalore.

The police said they were forced to open fire after the accused, a resident of Thilaspet in neighbouring Puducherry and the leader of a gang, allegedly attacked two policemen with a machete as he was hiding in a cashew orchard at M. Pudur.

The accused was involved in an incident of assault on a truck driver recently, and a special police team, headed by Thirupapuliyur police station Inspector Chandran, was constituted to nab him and other members of his gang. The police intensified their search after Vijay and the others allegedly assaulted and robbed three lorry drivers of their mobile phones and cash on Wednesday morning, Superintendent of Police S. Jeyakumar said.

The attack on the lorry drivers was reported at M. Pudur near Thirupapuliyur and Puduchatram in the district.

The special team received intel that Vijay was hiding in a cashew orchard at M. Pudur. When the team tried to apprehend him, the accused suddenly pulled out a machete and attacked head constable Gopi.

Following this, Inspector Chandran warned him to surrender. However, Vijay allegedly refused to comply and attacked Grade I constable Ganapathy. As he continued to attack the team despite the Inspector’s warning, the latter opened fire on him in an act of self-defence, the police said.

The accused sustained three bullet injuries to his chest and waist. Later, the man died en route to the Cuddalore Government General Hospital, Mr. Jeyakumar said. A case has been registered and his body has been sent for postmortem examination.