Sridhar Dhanapalan, the 44-year-old gangster who was once called the ‘Dawood of Tamil Nadu’, allegedly committed suicide on Wednesday by consuming cyanide in Cambodia.
The New Indian Express reported that the Tamil Nadu police have not confirmed the incident yet. He was being tracked for various criminal cases in the state.
According to reports, he had 43 cases against his name which included seven murders.
He fled from the country in 2013 to Dubai. By then, he owned vast lands which he acquired through illegal means. Police were trying to track him since then but were unsuccessful.
Moreover, his Indian passport was blocked and he was being tracked by various agencies including Interpol, reported The Indian Express.
Some reports stated that family issues could be the reason for his suicide. However, Indian Express quoting a senior officer reported that Sridhar had called his associates and told them that he feared being killed by the police in an “encounter” if he came back to India.
Reportedly, he was rushed to a hospital around 6:30pm where he passed away.
He was staying in Cambodia for the last few months.
He is survived by his wife Kumari, two daughters Dhanalakshmi and Charumathy and son Santhosh. His wife and daughters are in Kanchipuram and his son is studying in London, reported TNIE. Police had earlier detained the family members to find out details about Sridhar.
In an interview with The Indian Express in 2016, he had said that he was ready to come back to India and face legal proceedings but he should be promised a “fair trial”.
He had also said in the interview that he feared he would be killed by Tamil Nadu police. “I myself will commit suicide with cyanide if there is any basis for the charges against me,” he had told The Indian Express.
Background
As per police records, Sridhar, who hails from Thiruparuthikundram in Kanchipuram, was born on June 12, 1972. “My father was a agriculture worker, mother was disabled. As my father was a drunkard, my mother had to leave his house when I was two. I studied till Std VII. Later, I joined a silk weaving firm in Kanchipuram,” he had told The Indian Express.
After dropping out of school around 1984, he worked with silk weavers for the next eight years, according to his aides. In Sridhar’s own words, his troubles began in 1992 after he commenced his illegal arrack business which he continued till 2008, the report adds. He had said that he liked gambling and had a craze for casinos.
Sridhar told IE that he had an oil business from which he was getting a monthly income of Rs 1.2 crore.
Deccan Chronicle reports that Sridhar was a Class 10 dropout and was associated with arrack seller Chakravarthy. He later married the latter’s daughter and expanded his family business.
“I left India in 2013. Last year, my Indian passport got cancelled. Luckily, my Dubai business visa lasts till 2017,” he had said in 2016.