Two armed history-sheeters were gunned down by a police special team after they attacked the pursuing team with machetes on Wednesday.

Following a tip off that the two criminals with a long criminal record were hiding near the New Railway bridge in Kancheepuram, a special team out of three that were formed to nab them, rushed to apprehend the duo, police said.

“But they attacked the police who surrounded them. In the process, a Special Sub Inspector of Police (SSI) Ramalingam and a constable Sasi Kumar sustained cut injuries,” North Zone Inspector General of Police N Kannan said.

“The incident happened in the small hours today. The police team initially attempted to restrain the duo but to no avail. They had to open fire after two of our men were injured,” the IGP said.

The history-sheeters, identified as Raghuvaran and Basha alias Karuppu Aseen, were declared brought dead at the Kancheepuram Government Hospital, he said. The injured police are undergoing treatment.

“Both Raghuvaran and another known rowdy Prabhakaran were involved in gang rivalry. Prabhakaran eliminated three of Raghuvaran’s men, and Raghuvaran settled the score by killing Prabhakaran in broad daylight recently,” he said.

Prabhakaran has 34 criminal offences pending against him and Raghuvaran has 8 similar cases. Aseen has two murder cases against him, the senior police official added.

Later, speaking to reporters Kannan said the police have listed out 375 known rowdies in Kancheepuram and “strengthened the intelligence network to nab them anytime.”

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.