A notorious gangster, accused of murdering BSP leader K Armstrong in Chennai, was killed in an alleged police encounter on Monday morning. Raja, aka Seizing Raja, was taken into custody by the Chennai Police on Sunday evening from his hideout in Andhra Pradesh. He was killed in Chennai on Monday morning.
This is the second encounter killing of an accused in the Armstrong case, with another history-sheeter identified as Thiruvengadam killed in a police encounter near Madhavaram in Chennai in July.
Raja, an A-plus category rowdy, was absconding ever since he was implicated in the murder of Armstrong. The BSP leader was hacked to death on July 5 and Raja was among the 28 people who were under police radar.
According to Chennai Police, they had actively been searching for Raja for the past few months. A few days back, they received information that he had been hiding in Andhra Pradesh. He was nabbed last night and brought to Chennai on Monday morning. Police also seized a few guns and weapons from him.
However, on Monday morning, he tried to escape the police by attacking them at Neelankarai on the ECR stretch. Police had to fire at him for self-defence, officials claimed. Though he was immediately rushed to Royapettah Hospital, police declared him dead on arrival.
Also read: K Armstrong murder: Arcot Suresh's brother Balu vowed to kill BSP leader
Who was Seizing Raja?
Raja, 49, reportedly had over 33 cases against him in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. These include five murder cases and seven attempt-to-murder cases.
A native of East Tambaram, Raja earned his nickname after being employed by a private bank to seize vehicles from defaulters. He also began getting Kangaroo Court and real-estate business, with his activities focused on suburban areas and Kancheevaram.
Meanwhile, the alleged encounter killing of the second accused in the Armstrong case has raised brows. Thiruvengadam, who was killed in a police encounter a month after the murder of Armstrong, was in police custody for five days being before shot dead.
These aren't the only encounter deaths in Tamil Nadu. This is the third encounter related to Armstrong’s murder since A Arun took over as Chennai Police Commissioner on 8 July 2024. Last week, another notorious gangster 'Kakka Thoppu’ Balaji' was killed in a police encounter after he reportedly attacked police officers. Balaju was wanted in over 50 cases.