Sivaganga police constable murder: Accused auto driver shot during escape bid

A sub-inspector of Madurai rural district police opened fire, in a purported act of self-defence, on an accused involved in the recent murder of a police constable in Sivaganga, near Perungudi in Madurai district, in the early hours of Monday (March 24, 2025).

A sub-inspector of Madurai rural district police opened fire, in a purported act of self-defence, on an accused involved in the recent murder of a police constable in Sivaganga, near Perungudi in Madurai district, in the early hours of Monday (March 24, 2025).

A special team of police had arrested the accused and was taking him to the scene of the crime — where the police constable Malaiarasan was found dead, half-burnt, on Tuesday (March 18), along the Madurai-Thoothukudi Inner Ring Road — when SI Marikannan, of Tirumangalam, shot the accused Moovendran.

“He was asked to enact how he committed the crime. Moovendran then pulled out a knife, which he had hidden at the spot, and suddenly attacked SI Marikannan. The SI sustained injuries to his left hand and started bleeding. When the accused tried to attack him again, the SI shot him with his service pistol in self-defence,” Madurai Superintendent of Police B.K. Arvind said.

Moovendran suffered a bullet injury to his right leg. Both the SI and the accused were admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.

When the deceased police constable, Malaiarasan, who was part of the special crime team in Sivaganga district, had come to Madurai, he had approached Moovendran, an auto driver, to get dropped at Arapalayam. Moovendran, who was with his friend Siva in the vehicle, refused to go to Arapalayam.

However, the constable, who was drunk then, offered to give him more money to drop him at the bus stand.

“When he tried to send money from his mobile phone using a payment application, the auto driver noticed the Personal Identification Number the constable had typed on his phone,” Mr. Arvind said. The auto driver, who was in debt, impulsively decided to murder him for money, the police said.