Auto Shankar married his first wife, Jagadeeswari, early in his criminal career and had 4 children with her.
17 Facts About Auto Shankar
1.
2.
Auto Shankar's third wife, Lalitha, was a performer at a cabaret club he frequented.
3.
Auto Shankar survived by peddling cycle rickshaws, and later began to operate an auto rickshaw, from which he got his nickname.
4.
At the time, the area was a criminal hotbed and Shankar began transporting illegal liquor, and Shankar soon realised that prostitution was more profitable with lower risks, due to its association with politically influential people who could keep the police in check.
5.
Auto Shankar's gang eliminated rivals either through the police force or through murder.
6.
An incident in which a rival gangster named Babu was murdered in the early 1980s, and which was ultimately covered up led Auto Shankar to focus more on prostitution.
7.
An enraged Auto Shankar planned his revenge by pretending to reconcile with the two through mutual friends.
8.
Auto Shankar then rented the house to an old widow for Rs.
9.
Auto Shankar told Sudalai that Lalitha was on an all-India tour with a VIP, and two months later invited him for dinner.
10.
Auto Shankar loaded Sudalai with liquor, strangled him, burned his body, and dumped his ashes in the sea.
11.
Auto Shankar then had the house renovated and explained away the burn marks by claiming they were roasted meat.
12.
When Sudalai's friend Ravi confronted Auto Shankar, Auto Shankar killed him and buried him outside his Periyar Nagar plot.
13.
Auto Shankar 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.
14.
Auto Shankar invited them into his den, promising to pay them, and then beat them to death and buried them.
15.
Auto Shankar was advised to file a complaint with Thiruvanmiyur police instead, who arrested Shankar on charges of causing a nuisance and released him.
16.
Auto Shankar 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.
17.
Auto Shankar mentioned this during a seminar on "Crime and Media" in Kerala.