Chennai, Mar 1 (IANS): Police in Tamil Nadu's Madurai opened fire on an accused in a murder case after he tried to attack a policeman early on Tuesday, an official said.

The accused, Vinod Kumar sustained a bullet injury on his right leg in the police firing.

A police official said that Vinod Kumar, who is a "history-sheeter" was the main accused in the murder of G. Balamurugan, 29, of Vallar in Madurai on February 22.

He was taken into custody and during interrogation, told the police that he had used a knife to stab Balamurugan and the knife was hidden at a certain spot.

As a police team took him to this spot to recover the knife on early Tuesday, he retrieved the hidden knife and attacked a policeman with it.

Police said that they had no option left but to open fire at the accused and hit him on his right leg. He was injured and admitted to Madurai Government Hospital.

Policeman Saravanakumar, who was injured in the knife attack, was also admitted to the hospital.