MUMBAI, January 15: 15-member-strong police team from Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu accompanied by Bhandup police, arrested Surla Ukkaita Thevar, prime accused in the acid attack on IAS officer and chairman of Tamil Nadu Trade Corporation V V Chandralekha, after a hot chase in the north-eastern suburbs on Wednesday.Thirty-two-year-old Surla, who had escaped from Tambaram sanatorium on January 2 last year, was arrested by Bhandup police at 6.15 am near Gurkha Chawl at Jungle Mangal Road. He is suffering from tuberculosis and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Surla was arrested by Chennai police in 1992 in connection with the acid attack on Chandralekha. Last year, during the course of his trial, he hurled a chair at assistant sessions judge of Chennai when court proceedings were under way. Thereafter, he complained of illness and was admitted in the government hospital. Taking advantage of lax security in the hospital, Surla escaped.
Surla, who operated in Bhandup, Kanjurmarg and Mulund areas,
joined the world of crime in the late eighties. He has been charged with various offences between 1987-92, including extortion, murder and assault.
Following his escape from Chennai, a police party led by Chennai's deputy superintendent of police, which included six police inspectors, two sub-inspectors and six others, came to Mumbai and launched a search for him in Bhandup, his original base.
On Wednesday morning, when sub-inspector Shyam Sawant had taken an informant with him to a Bhandup locality, the latter identified Surla from a distance. Seeing the police, Surla hid his face and tried to escape. But the police had already surrounded him on all sides.
In his statement to the police, Surla said his mother had given him Rs 800 for petty expenses inside the jail. He found this amount handy after his escape. After he left Chengalpattu, Surla avoided rail transport and travelled only by bus. He first went to Tirupati and then arrived in Mumbai via Bangalore.
After reaching Mumbai, Surla assumed a new
name, Murugan Nadar. He had also been to Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital for the treatment of his illness.
Sub-inspector Sawant said though Surla has confessed to other crimes, he denied his involvement in the acid attack on Chandralekha. Sawant informed, ``After getting the transfer warrant issued, Chengalpattu police may take Surla away by air today itself in the evening.''
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
