A man who allegedly created panic among the public by opening fire after snatching a chain from a woman was gunned down at Sriperumbudur, Kanchipuram on October 10, Sunday, police claim.

The supposed assailant, whom the police identified as Murthasa (25), apparently hailing from Jharkhand, snatched a six-sovereign gold chain from a 55-year-old woman waiting to board a bus near a toll plaza at Sriperumbudur and fled along with his accomplice Naim Akthar, claimed the police. The woman raised an alarm and members of the public pursued the fleeing duo when, according to the police, Murthasa whipped out a gun and opened fire in to the crowd. The police said no one was injured.

Following the incident, Kancheepuram district superintendent formed teams to trace and nab the culprits, the police said. The teams traced the duo to a spot near the Mevalurkuppam Lake at Sriperumbudur and surrounded Murthasa, the claim. “But, he tried to escape after firing at the police and was killed in retaliatory fire," a senior official alleged. Naim Akthar was arrested, and the gun and other weapons were seized, according to the police.

Investigation is apparently on to ascertain if the duo was involved in an earlier incident in which a staff member of a TASMAC liquor outlet was shot at and injured, the police have also said.

With inputs from PTI