Gangster wanted for murder of BSP leader in Tennessee killed in confrontation with police

Chennai, Sept 23 (IANS) A gangster wanted for the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP president K. Armstrong was killed in a police encounter in Chennai on Monday.

The Greater Chennai Police shot dead the notorious gangster, known as ‘Seizing’ Raja, during an encounter in the early hours of the morning.

The gangster was nabbed in Andhra Pradesh. When the police reached Neelankarai in Tamil Nadu in the early hours of the morning, he attacked the police. The police said they had to resort to return fire, which led to the death of the gangster.

Raja was accused on July 5 of murdering K. Armstrong, the president of the BSP in Tamil Nadu state.

The gangster was accused in five other murder cases, and several attempted murder charges were also registered against him

This is the third encounter between the Chennai police and an accused in the K. Armstrong case in the city in the past few days.

On July 14, a police team in Chennai shot dead K.Thiruvengadam, one of the prime suspects in the murder of K.Armstrong. Police said that when he was brought to the Madhavaram Lake premises to identify the weapons used in Armstrong’s murder and his handcuffs were removed, he attacked the police. Following this, the police had to open fire and kill the gangster on the spot.

Another gangster, Kakathope Balaji, was shot dead by the Greater Chennai police team on September 18. Police said he attacked the police team and injured a policeman in Vyasarpadi, where he was hiding. Police shot dead the notorious gangster who was involved in 64 criminal cases, including murder.

After the murder of K. Armstrong, the new police chief of Chennai city, K. Arun IPS, took office. Immediately after taking office, he told the media that the police should use the language that the gangsters understood.

KM Periyappan, a human rights activist from Ashok Nagar, Chennai, told IANS: “The encounter killings are not something a democratic society should resort to. This is a Dravidian government in power and Chief Minister Stalin, who is also the Home Minister, should rein in the police. This is unbecoming of a civil society and immediate corrective measures should be taken.”

It may be recalled that after the murder of K. Armstrong on July 5 in broad daylight, 32 people including political leaders were arrested. There were reports of involvement of three gangs in the murder and a lot of money had been involved in the murder of Armstrong, who was a prominent Dalit leader and a practising advocate in the Madras High Court.