Auto Shankar

Gowri Shankar (21 January 1954 – 27 April 1995) aka Auto Shankar was a notorious serial killer and a criminal from the region of Madras .[1][2]

Auto Shankar
Born(1954-01-21)21 January 1954
Kangeyanallur, Vellore District, India
Died27 April 1995(1995-04-27) (aged 41)
Cause of deathhanging - death penalty
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
Victims6
Span of crimes
1975–1989
CountryIndia
State(s)Tamilnadu

Murders

Shankar and his gang, consisting of his younger brother Auto Mohan and associates Eldin and Shivaji, as well as Jayavelu, Rajaraman, Ravi, Palani and Paramasivam, were found guilty of six murders, committed over a period of two years in 1988–1989.[3] They were tried for the murders of Lalitha, Sudalai, Sampath, Mohan, Govindaraj and Ravi.[3]

Trial

Shankar's trial was held at the Chengalpattu sessions court.[3] He was sentenced to death along with two of his associates, Eldin and Shivaji, on 31 May 1991.[3] Auto Shankar was hanged in Salem Central Prison.[3]

Associates

In 1992, Shankar's five accomplices were sentenced to six months of Rigorous Imprisonment after having been found guilty by a Magistrate.[4] The accomplices were Shankar's brother, Mohan, Selva (alias Selvaraj) and the jail wardens Kannan, Balan and Rahim Khan.[4] They were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension.[4]

Subsequently, Mohan was also found guilty of the six murders and was given three life sentences.[3] Mohan had escaped from the Chennai Central Prison in August 1990 and was captured in Pune on 25 June 1992.[3]

Responses

K. Vijay Kumar, the Tamil Nadu Additional Director-General of Police, claimed that cinema was solely responsible for making Shankar a criminal.[5] He mentioned this during a seminar on "Crime and Media" in Kerala.

The trial has become widely known across the nation since the Supreme Court invoked the American free speech doctrine and the case became oft-quoted in relation to journalistic exposés.[6][7][8]

See also

References
  1. Thomas, K.M. (9 September 1990). "The mass murderer of Madras". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  2. "Auto Shankar, two others sentenced to death". The Indian Express. 1 June 1991. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  3. The Hindu : Auto Shankar's brother gets life imprisonment
  4. The Hindu : RI for jail wardens in 'Auto' Shankar case
  5. The Hindu : Media, police should not harm society's interests
  6. The Hindu : Whistles, stings and slapps
  7. The Hindu : Tehelka: what next?
  8. The Hindu : The Tehelka Commission
  9. http://www.bbthots.com/reviews/rewind/pvisaaranai.html
  10. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/The-Radha-MGR-episode/article15386008.ece
  11. "Auto Shankar: ZEE5 web series on serial killer Gowri Shankar premiers on 23 April". The Statesman. 6 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
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