Editing Auto Shankar (section)

== Career ==
He survived by peddling cycle rickshaws, and later began to operate an [[auto rickshaw]], from which he got his nickname. 

At the time, the area was a criminal hotbed and Shankar began transporting illegal liquor (prohibition being in force at the time), and Shankar soon realised that [[prostitution]] was more profitable with lower risks, due to its association with politically influential people [[Corruption in India|who could keep the police in check]]. His gang eliminated rivals either through the police force or through murder. An incident in which a rival gangster named Babu was murdered in the early 1980s, and which was ultimately covered up led Shankar to focus more on prostitution.<ref name=":0" />

Shankar's third wife, Lalitha, ran off with a pimp and Shankar's friend, Sudalaimuthu, and started their own outfit in the sex trade. An enraged Shankar planned his revenge by pretending to reconcile with the two through mutual friends. One night in October 1987, he invited her to one of his places in Periyar Nagar, then killed and buried her. He then rented the house to an old widow for Rs. 150. Shankar told Sudalai that Lalitha was on an all-India tour with a VIP, and two months later invited him for dinner. Shankar loaded Sudalai with liquor, strangled him, burned his body, and dumped his ashes in the sea. He then had the house renovated and explained away the burn marks by claiming they were roasted meat. When Sudalai's friend Ravi confronted Shankar, Shankar killed him and buried him outside his Periyar Nagar plot. He 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.<ref name=":0" />

By 1988, he had a multistorey house, cars, bikes, and connections that could do anything. On 29 May 1988, he and his gang were confronted by 3 members of a rival gang: Sampath, Mohan and Govindraj, who refused to pay for using his women and demanded protection money. Shankar invited them into his den, promising to pay them, and then beat them to death and buried them. At the end of June, Sampath's wife Vijaya filed a complaint with Mylapore police that her husband was missing and Shankar could be responsible. She was advised to file a complaint with Thiruvanmiyur police instead, who arrested Shankar on charges of causing a nuisance and released him. Vijaya sent a petition to the governor, who ordered the police to investigate Shankar. However, the reluctant police told Vijaya to not bother them with complaints. A distraught Vijaya turned to her journalist neighbour, who published an article implying they might have been murdered.<ref name=":0" />