Auto Shankar

Identification

Auto Shankar was an Indian serial killer known as “Auto Shankar”.

Timeline

• 27 April 1995 — Auto Shankar was hanged at the Salem Central Prison.
• 31 May 1991 — Chengalpattu sessions court sentenced Shankar to death along with two associates, Eldin and Shivaji.
• August 1990 — Mohan escaped from the Chennai Central Prison.
• 25 June 1992 — Mohan was re-arrested in Pune.
• 20 August 1993 — Selvaraj was nabbed in Mumbai.
• 26 November 2005 — A report stated that Auto Mohan, younger brother of Auto Shankar, was found guilty and was awarded life imprisonment under each count, with sentences split into three life terms to run consecutively.
• 2002 — Five accomplices were sentenced to six months of Rigorous Imprisonment.

The offence

Auto Shankar and his gang were found guilty of six murders committed over a period of two years in 1988–1989. The trial concerned the murders of Lalitha, Sudalai, Sampath, Mohan, Govindaraj and Ravi.

The bodies of the victims were either burnt or buried inside residential houses.

In late 1988, over a period of approximately six months, nine teenage girls from the Thiruvanmiyur section of Chennai disappeared. Investigators initially believed the girls had been sold into prostitution by families unable to afford wedding dowries, but consistent denials by their kin forced investigators to seek another explanation.

Late in December, a schoolgirl named Subalakshmi claimed that an auto rickshaw driver had attempted to abduct her in front of a wine shop.

Auto Shankar later gave a narrative in which he said he had kidnapped the girls for powerful state politicians, subsequently disposing of them after his patrons had raped them.

Investigation

Detectives worked undercover in the local wine shop back-rooms. They learned of a rumour that an auto driver called Shankar was behind the crimes, disposing of bodies by cremating them and pouring the remains into the Bay of Bengal.

Arrest

The following morning, the police picked up the suspect who overnight became known to the nation as “Auto Shankar”.

Trial

Auto Shankar’s trial was completed by the Chengalpattu sessions court. He was sentenced to death along with two associates, Eldin and Shivaji, on May 31, 1991.

In his trial, Auto Shankar blamed films for “making a devil of him”.

The prosecution arraigned 134 witnesses, including nine Magistrates and five Inspectors of Police. The charge sheet ran to 1,100 pages, covering six major Sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Five other accused were awarded life imprisonment: Jayavelu, Rajaraman, Ravi, Palani and Paramasivam. One of the accused, Babu, turned approver.

Immediately after the delivery of the order, a composed Mohan wanted the Judge to direct the jail administration to keep him in the Chennai Central Prison as he intended to appeal against the verdict. Selvaraj requested that he be kept in the Cuddalore Central Prison. The Judge responded that if they filed petitions, he would consider them.

Sentencing

Auto Shankar was sentenced to death along with two associates, Eldin and Shivaji, on May 31, 1991.

For Auto Mohan and Selvaraj, the trial was conducted separately because the case was split after their escape from the Chennai Central Prison in August 1990.

A sessions court convicted Auto Mohan and awarded life imprisonment under each count. The sessions court split the sentence into three life terms and ruled that Mohan would undergo the three life terms consecutively—one after the completion of the other.

In the 140-page order, the I Additional Sessions Judge, A.R. Selvakumar, convicted Mohan’s associate Selvaraj also for three murders and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life. The three life terms for Selvaraj would run concurrently—simultaneously. No fine was imposed on both of them.

In 2002, Shankar’s five accomplices were sentenced to six months of Rigorous Imprisonment after having been found guilty by a Magistrate.

Appeals

Auto Mohan intended to appeal against the verdict after the delivery of the order.

Outcome

Auto Shankar was hanged to death on April 27, 1995 at the Salem Central Prison.

Aftermath

The accomplices were Shankar’s brother, Mohan, Selva alias Selvaraj, and the jail warders Kannan, Balan and Rahim Khan. They were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension.

Subsequently, Shankar’s younger brother, Auto Mohan, was found guilty of the six murders and was awarded three life sentences. Auto Mohan had earlier escaped from the Chennai Central Prison in August 1990 and was re-arrested in Pune on June 25, 1992.

Selvaraj was nabbed in Mumbai on August 20, 1993.

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

Auto Shankar blamed films for “making a devil of him”.