Auto Shankar

 

Gauri Shankar known as Auto Shankar in the crime world was a Tamilnadu based serial killer during 1970s. He was called as Auto Shankar because he began his criminal career as an autorickshaw driver. He had multiple wives, though not simaltaneously, and many children. His first wife with 4 children had committed suicide by self immolation. That was befoe the start of his criminal career and he was still pulling a cycle rickshaw. Very little is known about his second wife. His third wife who was a cabret dancer was murdered by him for betraying him and eloping with his friend who incidentally happened to be a pimp.

He survived in the beginning of his youth by peddling cycle rickshaws, and later began to operate an auto rickshaw, from which he got his nickname.

At the time, the area where he used to live was a criminal hotbed and Gauri Shankar began transporting illegal liquor because prohibition was being in force at the time in the state, and Gauri Shankar soon realised that prostitution was more profitable than prohibition with lower risks, due to its association with politically influential people who could keep the police in check. His gang eliminated his business 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 Gauri Shankar to focus more on prostitution. He was boldened by incidence.

Gauri 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 Gauri 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. Gauri Shankar told Sudalai that Lalitha was on an all-India tour with a VIP, and two months later invited him for dinner. Gauri 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 Gauri Shankar, Gauri 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.

By 1988, Gauri Shankar 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. Gauri 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.

The Inspector General ordered a special enquiry and the deaths of the three men were discovered. When they arrested Gauri 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. Gauri Shankar's trial was held at the Chengalpattu sessions court. 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.