Auto Shankar: Difference between revisions

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'''Gowri Shankar''' (21 January 1954 – 27 April 1995), better known as '''<nowiki/>'Auto' Shankar''', was a gangster from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu active in Chennai throughout the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=K.M.|title=The mass murderer of Madras|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EoZlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mZ4NAAAAIBAJ&dq=auto%20shankar&pg=1032%2C3469058|accessdate=2 January 2013|agency=[[The Indian Express]]|date=9 September 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Auto Shankar, two others sentenced to death|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PIxlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q54NAAAAIBAJ&pg=817%2C2582855|accessdate=2 January 2013|agency=[[The Indian Express]]|date=1 June 1991}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Veerappan's widow pleads against telecast of serial|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/veerappans-widow-pleads-against-telecast-of-serial/509923|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-12-28|website=outlookindia.com}}</ref>

Shankar was born in Kangeyanallur near [[Vellore]]. While he was in PUC, his father left the family for [[Odisha]]. In the early 1970s, he came to Chennai, first living in a [[Mylapore]] slum before moving to the fast-developing area of [[Thiruvanmiyur]] on the outskirts of South Chennai.<ref name=":0" /> Shankar had several wives. He married his first wife, Jagadeeswari, early in his criminal career and had 4 children with her. His second wife, Geeta Sundari, was one of his prostitutes, and after failing to change his criminal ways she burned herself to death. His third wife, Lalitha, was a performer at a cabaret club he frequented.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-19|title=Auto Shankar’s Reign of Terror: The incomplete story of the man who shook Madras|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/auto-shankar-s-reign-terror-incomplete-story-man-who-shook-madras-100298|access-date=2020-12-28|website=The News Minute|language=en}}</ref>

He survived by peddling cycle rickshaws, and later began to operate an auto, from which he got his nickname. At the time, the area was a criminal hotbed and Shankar began transporting illegal liquor (prohibition was in force), and occasionally girls to the bungalows of VIPs. Prostitution was particularly present in the tourist hotspot of Mahabalipuram, and Shankar soon realized the flesh trade had more money and less risk, thanks to its association with politically influential people who could keep the police in check. Over this time, Shankar became a don involved in prostitution and illicit liquor, running a brothel on LB road and another in [[Periyar Nagar]]. His gang eliminated rivals either through the police or muscle. He established contacts with people in the film industry and gave VIPs girls from the film industry. One of his pimps, Babu was murdered in the early 1980s in T. Nagar for which the police arrested the brother of an actress. However, the case became hushed up due to the actress' clout. This experience led Shankar to focus more on the sex trade.<ref name=":0" />

The then 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.<ref name=":0" /> Shankar's trial was held at the [[Chengalpattu]] sessions court.<ref name="Brother">[http://www.hindu.com/2005/11/26/stories/2005112620501000.htm The Hindu :  Auto Shankar's brother gets life imprisonment]</ref> He was [[death penalty|sentenced to death]] along with two of his associates, Eldin and Shivaji, on 31 May 1991. Auto Shankar was [[hanging|hanged]] in Salem Central Prison in 1995.

K. Vijay Kumar, the Tamil Nadu Additional Director-General of Police, claimed that cinema was solely responsible for making  Shankar a criminal.<ref name="Vijay">[http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/05/stories/2007030503780300.htm The Hindu : Media, police should not harm society's interests]</ref> 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 [[investigative journalism|exposés]].<ref>[http://www.hindu.com/2003/12/12/stories/2003121201851200.htm The Hindu : Whistles, stings and slapps]</ref><ref>[http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/09/07/stories/05072523.htm The Hindu : Tehelka: what next?]</ref><ref>[http://www.hindu.com/2004/10/15/stories/2004101500821000.htm The Hindu : The Tehelka Commission]</ref>

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