This was a quiet November afternoon in 1986 when a postman knocked on the door of music composer Ganesh, music composer of the famous Shankar-Banesh pair, which was known for preparing some of some of the most memorable tunes of Tamil cinema. He gave a parcel, which by registered post. The city was sent to the house. The parcel appeared a gift. It remained unplanned till about 4 o’clock
When Shri Ganesh opened the package, he found that cassette tape recorder appeared. It came with a handwritten message from a Salem address, which claims to be a Deepawali gift with full instructions on how to operate it.
But the moment Shri Ganesh plugged the device into a power socket, the contraceptive explosion occurred. Both Shri Ganesh and his wife Ravichandrika suffered injuries. He suffered severe damage to his fingers and legs, while his wife was hurt on his face.
“He was rushed to a private hospital. Chief Minister MG Ramachandran visited the couple at the hospital. Senior police officers visited the spot and started an investigation.
According to a report published in Hindu On November 18, 1986, the parcel was lying in a post office for several days, as Shri Ganesh was away from Chennai.
Another explosion
On the same day, there was another tragedy in the Madras Harbor, when two workers – Nagalingam (45) and Govindan (35) – were caught by an explosion. As Hindu The report reported on November 19, 1986, a ball -like object found near the fire service station, when the men began opening the thread around it. Nagalingam was admitted to Stanley Hospital, while Govindan was considered as an outpatient. Police collected splinters from the scene for forensic examination by explosive experts.
Tea. Back to the city, the mystery of the parcel bomb deepened. Chennai City Police established two special teams to crack the case. One was sent to Salem, the origin of the parcel, while the other conducted a local investigation.
Chennai on 22 November 2016. Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
A twist in the story
About two months later, the puzzles of the puzzle started falling into the place. On January 15, 1987, the police caught the man who believed that the parcel was behind the bomb. Another archival report in HinduQuoting Police Commissioner Y Davaram, the accused was identified as 38 -year -old Kandaswamy, a liystist (old report in the old report ‘Edapai’ in the old report in Salem district).
Kandaswamy was arrested at the Salem bus stand as he was boarding a bus in his original village. The police was on his mark, finally he was visiting his home several times before he pulled him. He had to move forward, a handwritten note that came up with a parcel, with instructions to activate the deadly device that appeared as a cassette player.
According to the police, Kandswamy allegedly harassed Shri Ganesh over the disputes for the tunes. It was anger, the police believed, which inspired him to take an accurate revenge. Parsal, he said, a gelatin stick tampering inside the device. During an raid at his house, the police confiscated the song written by Kandaswamy, which matched the handwriting found in the parcel.
Reinstatement
Rapid forward till May 2014. Nearly 28 years after the explosion, Shri Ganesh took a major step towards recovery. An advanced eye surgery restored his vision, partially lost in the 1986 explosion. Shri Ganesh was living with blurred vision, unable to clearly separate the colors. He recalled how the initial surgery after the explosion had removed the natural lens from his eyes, but could not replace it, as there was no structural support.
After restoring the vision of music director through an advanced surgical technique at the hospital in Chennai on 31 May 2014, Dr. with film music director Ganesh. Dr. of Agarwal’s Eye Hospital. Amar Aggarwal (right). Photo Credit: Hindu Archives
“I came to Dr. Amar Aggarwal of Aggarwal Eye Hospital for a check-up and told me that the cornea was very scary,” Shri Ganesh said. He undergoes a glued intra-oxular lens (IOL) process, usually performed on individuals with severe eye injury, especially victims of bomb blasts and cracker explosions.
“We have to be very careful while working on the bomb blast victim. After the operation, Shri Ganesh could clearly watch from the next day and the treatment process was fast,” Hindu After the surgery, Dr. Reported Agarwal quoting.
In the way of fitting a music director, Shri Ganesh. A song was composed in praise of Aggarwal.
Published – July 02, 2025 06:30 AM IST
