When a mysterious tape recorder exploded severely injuring yesteryear Tamil music director Shankar

It was a quiet November afternoon in 1986 when a postman knocked on the door of music composer Ganesh, of the celebrated Shankar-Ganesh duo, well known for crafting some of Tamil cinema’s most memorable tunes. He delivered a parcel, sent by registered post to his T. Nagar home. The parcel appeared to be a gift. It remained unopened until around 4 p.m.

When Mr. Ganesh opened the package, he found what appeared to be a cassette tape recorder. It came with a handwritten message from a Salem address, claiming to be a Deepavali gift with complete instructions on how to operate it.

But the moment Mr. Ganesh plugged the device into a power socket, the contraption exploded. Both Mr. Ganesh and his wife Ravichandrika sustained injuries. He suffered grievous damage to his fingers and legs, while his wife was bruised on her face.

“They were rushed to a private hospital. Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran visited the couple at the hospital. Senior police officers visited the scene and launched an investigation.

According to a report published in The Hindu on November 18, 1986, the parcel had been lying at a post office for several days, as Mr. Ganesh had been away from Chennai.

Another explosion

On the same day, another tragedy struck at Madras Harbour, when two workers – Nagalingam (45) and Govindan (35) – were caught off guard by an explosion. According to The Hindu report dated November 19, 1986, a ball-like object, found near the fire service station, went off when the men began unravelling the thread around it. Nagalingam was admitted to Stanley Hospital, while Govindan was treated as an outpatient. Police collected splinters from the scene for forensic examination by explosives experts.

Back in T. Nagar, the mystery of the parcel bomb deepened. The Chennai city police set up two special teams to crack the case. One was dispatched to Salem, the parcel’s origin, while the other conducted local investigations.

Chennai on November 22, 2016
| Photo Credit:
B. Jothi Ramalingam

A twist in the tale

Nearly two months later, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. On January 15, 1987, the police apprehended the man they believed was behind the parcel bomb. Another archival report in The Hindu, quoting Commissioner of Police W. I. Davaram, identified the accused as 38-year-old Kandaswami, a lyrist from Chettipatti village near Edappadi (the old report had the spelling ‘Edapai’) in Sankari taluk of Salem district.

Kandaswami was arrested at the Salem bus stand as he was boarding a bus to his native village. The police had been on his trail, visiting his home multiple times before finally nabbing him. All they had to proceed was a handwritten note that came with the parcel, containing instructions for activating the deadly device concealed inside what appeared to be a cassette player.

According to police, Kandaswami allegedly harboured a grudge against Mr. Ganesh over payment disputes for tunes. It was this resentment, the police believed, that led him to exact revenge. The parcel, they said, contained a gelatine stick camouflaged inside the device. During a raid on his house, police seized song written by Kandaswami that matched the handwriting found in the parcel.

Vision restored

Fast-forward to May 2014. Nearly 28 years after the explosion, Mr. Ganesh took a major step toward recovery. An advanced eye surgery restored his vision, lost partially in the 1986 blast. Mr. Ganesh had been living with blurred vision, unable to distinguish colours clearly. 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.

Dr. Amar Agarwal (right) of Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital with film music director Ganesh, after restoring the vision of the music director through an advanced surgical technique at the hospital, in Chennai on May 31, 2014
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives

“I came to Dr. Amar Agarwal of the Agarwal Eye Hospital for a check-up and he told me there was a lot of scarring on the cornea,” Mr. Ganesh had said. He underwent a glued intra-ocular lens (IOL) procedure, commonly undertaken on persons with serious eye injury, especially victims of bomb blasts and cracker explosions.

“We have to be very careful while operating on a bomb blast victim. After the operation, Mr. Ganesh could see clearly from the very next day and the healing process was fast,” The Hindu reported, quoting Dr. Agarwal after the surgery.

In a manner fitting a music director, Mr. Ganesh had composed a song in praise of Dr. Agarwal.

Published – July 02, 2025 06:30 am IST