Fourth murder in gang war

MADURAI: The murder of PMK functionary Ilanchezhiyan is linked to three murders that took place in the district in the past four years, according to police sources.It was in 2007 that a gang working in close quarters with M Selvaraj, a relative of Ilanchezhiyan, and Citrarasu, a former Puthiya Tamilagam (PT) party functionary, murdered Anbu, an accomplice of Ilanchezhiyan and Kasivishwanathan, the accused who has now surrendered before the police after the murder of Ilanchezhiyan.  The murder was an outcome of a simmering enmity between Selvaraj and Ilanchezhiyan.Since then, several cases, including one under section 25 (1A) of the Arms Act, 1959, were registered against both the gangs in Avaniapuram and Perungudi police stations.In 2008, a country bomb explosion was reported in the farm of Ilanchezhiyan, in which two of his employees were injured. A case was then registered against the PMK functionary.Ilanchezhiyan, who was then a State-level functionary, had kept away from active politics and came into the limelight prior to the elections and was reinstated to the post.In 2009, one of the gangs murdered Irulappan, a history-sheeter and Ilanchezhiyan’s brother, and on the same day, another gang owing loyalty to Ilanchezhiyan went on the rampage in Avaniapuram in search of Kasivishwanathan.The gang spotted Citrarasu in that area and attacked him too. Citrarasu’s son Vijayadurai (16), who came to his rescue, was fatally injured by the gang. The issue led to undue tension in Avaniapuram and security was beefed up.Subsequently, Ilanchezhiyan and his brothers, Selvam and Mari, were detained under the Goondas Act based on the orders of then District Collector N Mathivanan.