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Early and personal life

For the unrelated 2005 film, see Auto Shankar (film).
Career For the biographical web series, see Auto Shankar (web series).
Trial Gowri Shankar Tamil: ெகௗரி சங் கர்; (21 January 1954 – 27 April 1995), better known as 'Auto'
Auto Shankar
Associates Shankar, was an Indian criminal, serial killer and gangster from Tamil Nadu, who was active in Chennai
Born Gowri Shankar
throughout the 1970s and 1980s.[1][2][3]
Responses 21 January 1954
Kangeyanallur, Vellore
In popular culture
Early and personal life [ edit ] District, India
See also Died 27 April 1995 (aged 41)
Shankar was born in Kangeyanallur near Vellore. While he was in PUC, [clarification needed] his father left the
Salem Central Prison, Salem,
References family for Odisha. In the early 1970s, he came to Chennai, first living in a Mylapore slum before moving to Tamil Nadu, India
the fast-developing area of Thiruvanmiyur on the outskirts of South Chennai.[1] Shankar had several wives. Cause of Execution by hanging
He married his first wife, Jagadeeswari, early in his criminal career and had 4 children with her. The death
marriage ended due to her suicide by self-immolation. His third wife, Lalitha, was a performer at a cabaret Criminal Executed
club he frequented. During his final years, Shankar is said to have adopted Christianity and quoted the status
Bible on multiple occasions during the listing of his biography. [4] Conviction(s) Murder (6 counts)
Criminal Death
Career [ edit ] penalty
Details
He survived by peddling cycle rickshaws, and later began to operate an auto rickshaw, from which he got
Victims 6
his nickname.
Span of 1975–1989
crimes
At the time, the area was a criminal hotbed and Shankar began transporting illegal liquor (prohibition being
Country India
in force at the time), and Shankar soon realised that prostitution was more profitable with lower risks, due
State(s) Tamil Nadu
to its association with politically influential people who could keep the police in check. His gang eliminated
rivals either through the police force or through murder. An incident in which a rival gangster named Babu
was murdered in the early 1980s, and which was ultimately covered up led Shankar to focus more on prostitution.[1]

Shankar's third wife, Lalitha, ran off with a pimp and Shankar's friend, Sudalaimuthu, and started their own outfit in the sex trade. An enraged Shankar
planned his revenge by pretending to reconcile with the two through mutual friends. One night in October 1987, he invited her to one of his places in
Periyar Nagar, then killed and buried her. He then rented the house to an old widow for Rs. 150. Shankar told Sudalai that Lalitha was on an all-India tour
with a VIP, and two months later invited him for dinner. Shankar loaded Sudalai with liquor, strangled him, burned his body, and dumped his ashes in the
sea. He then had the house renovated and explained away the burn marks by claiming they were roasted meat. When Sudalai's friend Ravi confronted
Shankar, Shankar killed him and buried him outside his Periyar Nagar plot. He claimed the burial was of illegal arrack that he was hiding from an
upcoming police raid, and posted a false letter to his wife claiming Ravi was in fact in Mumbai.[1]

By 1988, he had a multistorey house, cars, bikes, and connections that could do anything. On 29 May 1988, he and his gang were confronted by 3
members of a rival gang: Sampath, Mohan and Govindraj, who refused to pay for using his women and demanded protection money. Shankar invited
them into his den, promising to pay them, and then beat them to death and buried them. At the end of June, Sampath's wife Vijaya filed a complaint with
Mylapore police that her husband was missing and Shankar could be responsible. She was advised to file a complaint with Thiruvanmiyur police instead,
who arrested Shankar on charges of causing a nuisance and released him. Vijaya sent a petition to the governor, who ordered the police to investigate
Shankar. However the reluctant police told Vijaya to not bother them with complaints. A distraught Vijaya turned to her journalist neighbour, who
published an article implying they might have been murdered.[1]

Trial [ edit ]

The Inspector General ordered a special enquiry and the deaths of the three men were discovered. When they arrested Shankar and interrogated him,
he confessed to the murders and to the other three murders he had committed. However he escaped on 20 August 1990 with his five accomplices.[1]
Shankar's trial was held at the Chengalpattu sessions court.[5] He was sentenced to death along with two of his associates, Eldin and Shivaji, on 31 May
1991, ultimately being hanged in Salem Central Prison in 1995.

Associates [ edit ]

In 1992, Shankar's five accomplices were sentenced to six months of Rigorous Imprisonment after having been found guilty by the Chengai-Anna District
Judge N. Mohandoss. The accomplices were Shankar's brother, Mohan, Selva (alias Selvaraj) and the jail wardens Kannan, Balan and Rahim Khan.
They were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension Subsequently, Mohan was also found
guilty of the six murders and was given three Mohan had escaped from the Chennai Central Prison in August 1990 and was captured in Pune on 25 June
1992.

Responses [ edit ]

K. Vijay Kumar, the Tamil Nadu Additional Director-General of Police, claimed that cinema was solely responsible for making Shankar a criminal.[6] 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.[7][8][9]

In popular culture [ edit ]

The 1990 Tamil language film Pulan Visaranai directed by R. K. Selvamani was partially inspired by Auto Shankar's crimes.[10] Mithun Chakraborty
and Shakti Kapoor starred in the 1995 Bollywood remake Ravan Raaj: A True Story.
A documentary television series based on his life was aired on Makkal TV.[11]
Crime Patrol aired an episode on Sony TV based on the story of Auto Shankar.[12]
Appani Sarath played Auto Shankar in the 2019 ZEE5 web series Auto Shankar.[12]
This case was included as one of the cases in the bestselling book The Deadly Dozen: India's Most Notorious Serial Killers by Anirban
Bhattacharyya, the creator-producer of the hit tv show Savdhaan India

See also [ edit ]

Charles Shobraj
Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders
Noida serial murders
Raman Raghav
Capital punishment in India
List of serial killers by country

References [ edit ]

1. ^ a b c d e f Thomas, K.M. (9 September 1990). "The mass murderer of 7. ^ The Hindu : Whistles, stings and slapps
Madras" . The Indian Express. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 8. ^ The Hindu : Tehelka: what next?
2. ^ "Auto Shankar, two others sentenced to death" . The Indian Express. 1 9. ^ The Hindu : The Tehelka Commission
June 1991. Retrieved 2 January 2013. 10. ^ Balasubramaniam, Balaji. "Pulan Visaranai - A movie review" . Balaji's
3. ^ "Veerappan's widow pleads against telecast of serial" . outlookindia.com. Thots.
Retrieved 28 December 2020. 11. ^ "The Radha-MGR episode" . The Hindu. 28 July 2008. ISSN 0971-
4. ^ "Auto Shankar's Reign of Terror: The incomplete story of the man who 751X .
shook Madras" . The News Minute. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 28 December 12. ^ a b "Auto Shankar: ZEE5 web series on serial killer Gowri Shankar
2020. premiers on 23 April" . The Statesman. 6 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April
5. ^ The Hindu : Auto Shankar's brother gets life imprisonment 2019.
6. ^ The Hindu : Media, police should not harm society's interests

Categories: 1954 births 1995 deaths 20th-century executions by India Crime in Tamil Nadu Criminals from Tamil Nadu
Executed Indian people Executed Indian serial killers Indian people convicted of murder Indian people convicted of rape
People convicted of murder by India People executed by India by hanging Uxoricides

This page was last edited on 20 December 2023, at 07:57 (UTC).

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