On the night of 19/01/2005 at about 2245 hrs PSI Anti Rowdy Squad (ARS) Mr. P A Hegde received credible information about the movement of Shaji @ David (Criminal wanted in various extortion and attempt to murder cases of both Karnataka and Kerala States) near Mahaveer (Pumpwell) Circle just on the outskirts of Mangalore city. Immediately, he along with staff of ARS rushed to Pumpwell circle and started looking for the suspect. At about 2335 hrs the suspect was spotted near a live band there. The police shadowed him from a distance and confirmed his identity and approached to arrest him. In the meanwhile the suspect started his motorcycle and went towards Thokottu ( Kerala) on NH 17. Immediately PSI and his team chased the motorcycle in their police jeep and managed to stop the motorcycle near Peagasus Hotel on National Highway. However the suspect in the pretext of stopping managed to slip away and sped towards Thokottu. The police team continued the chase and also alerted the police control room by giving details of the pursuit and asked to block the highway at Thokottu junction. The suspect however turned towards right at Mahakaali Padpu junction and while manoeuvring the road humps there slipped and fell down from the motorcycle. Within seconds the police jeep also reached there. PSI and his team got off from the vehicle and asked the suspect to surrender. However the suspect suddenly drew a pistol from his waist and fired one round in the direction of the police team. It hit the front window shield of the vehicle missing the police team narrowly. Sensing grave danger to their lives, PSI Mr Hegde took out his 9 mm Pistol and opened fire (04 rounds) in self-defence and in defence of his team members. In the meanwhile another team member ASI Mr. Narayana Byndoor also opened fire from his 9mm Pistol (04 rounds). At this juncture the suspect dropped the pistol and collapsed on the ground and rolled into the nearby bushes. The police team rushed towards him, lifted him from the bushes and shifted him to the District (Wenlock) hospital. There, the duty Doctors examined and declared him as dead.
The said suspect was wanted in three cases of attempt to murder of Dakshina Kannada District and one case of attempt to murder of Udupi District. All these incidents he had done at the behest of Bannanje Raja, the underworld criminal believed to be in the Middle East. Besides, the Kerala police also wanted him. Hailing from Kollam District of Kerala state, his true name was Thilleri Shaji @ Theeppori Shaji 24 years S/O Ibrahim Kutti, Shaji Nivas, Udayamarthanda puram, Mundakkal, Kollam District, Kerala. There he is involved in six criminal cases of public disturbance, assault, abduction, dacoity and other such cases. It is also learnt that he is involved in two criminal cases of Kasargod District pertaining to attempt to murder, assault on police officer and escape from police custody.
On the morning of 20/01/2006, the inquest proceedings of the dead body was performed by Mr. Prabhaka Sharma Sub Divisional Magistrate Mangalore. At the time of inquest, amongst the belongings, one mobile phone (Nokia 6600), two ATM cards and some cash have been found. These have been seized for investigation purpose.
The accused was found to have fired from a 9 mm pistol. The make and source of the weapon needs to be ascertained.
The Anti Rowdy Squad consisted of:
P.A Hegde PSI, Narayana Byndoor ASI, Chandappa CHC 482, Yogish CHC 414, Umesh CPC 1167, Krishna B.K. CPC 1991, Damodar CPC 2156, Tharanath CPC 835, Subba Patali CPC 980, Devid D'souza CPC 925, Yashavanth CPC 2273, Vinod Kamath CPC 413, Melwin Pinto CPC 2161, Balachandra CPC 2140 and Shiva Naik APC 45.