Some years ago there was an encounter between the police and 5 armed robbers, who had at gunpoint, held two separate banks on different dates as hostage and stolen money, here right in Velachery, in Vandikaran street. The tip off sent the force scrambling and paired with the order, right from the CM to deal the robbers with an iron fist, the police cordoned off the whole neighbourhood and sealed the exits leading out of that narrow lane. At 3 am, a group of armed policemen went near the presumed door of the robbers hideout and told them to surrender. Instead of that, they were fired upon, said the police, but when the people in the locale were questioned it was found that suspiciously no one had heard any sounds resembling a gunshot.
The end result was five dead robbers, all hailing from the northern parts of India and two wounded constables. The very fact that such an incident could happen in an area as quite and posh as NGO colony was startling and frightening. The stern actions that the police were ready to take on was also an eye opener and...