In the early morning of January 8, 2005, a ruthless gang attacked the house of AIADMK MLA K. Sudarsanam in Thanakulam, near Periyapalayam, Tamil Nadu. Around 2:15 a.m., the gang broke in, brutally assaulted Sudarsanam's family, looted gold jewellery, and shot Sudarsanam dead. The attackers escaped after firing to disperse villagers who tried to intervene. This attack was part of a series of violent dacoities by a North Indian gang known as the Bawarias. Between 1995 and 2005, they committed 24 such crimes across Tamil Nadu resulting in 13 deaths and 63 injuries. The gang targeted homes along highways, using secret compartments in their lorries to hide weapons and violence to terrorize families. A breakthrough came in February 2005 when police matched fingerprints to Laxman alias Ashok, a Bawaria criminal from Rajasthan. Thirteen members were arrested, including leader Oma alias Omprakash Bawaria. Courts later convicted several for murders including that of MLA Sudarsanam. In the Sudarsanam case, 32 were charged but only a few tried. The court relied on eyewitness testimony, especially from Sudarsanam’s eight-year-old daughter who identified the attackers, and fingerprint evidence. On November 24, 2025, three accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. One was acquitted due to lack of evidence. The Bawaria gang’s reign of terror across Tamil Nadu came to an end with these convictions. Some gang members still remain free, but justice for the victims has been partly served.