Armstrong murder case: TN police to file charges soon

Chennai, Sept 11 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu special police team investigating the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president K Armstrong will file the chargesheet soon.

Police sources told IANS that the chargesheet would be filed within a few days. The BSP leader was murdered in broad daylight on July 5 when he was chatting with his brother and friends in Perambur in north Chennai.

The killing of Armstrong, a prominent Dalit leader of the state who was involved in providing education to students and lifting their professional careers, sent shock waves in the state. BSP leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati was present at Armstrong’s funeral. However, his opponents said he was involved in several big land deals and was running his own gang.

Immediately after Armstrong’s murder, the police swung into action. They arrested 11 people, including Ponnai Balu, the brother of history correspondent Arcot V. Suresh, who was murdered earlier, and there were reports of Armstrong’s involvement in the murder.

The police team shot dead one of the arrested, Thiruvengadam, when he was taken to the Madhavaram Lake premises to retrieve the weapons used to kill Armstrong. The police said that they were forced to shoot the notorious criminal after he attacked them. However, there were conflicting reports that the murder was staged and that the police had a confrontation to eliminate Thiruvengadam.

Tamil Nadu police sources told IANS that three gangs were behind Armstrong’s murder and that a notorious historian, Nagendran, who is lodged in Vellore Central Jail, coordinated the teams involved in the BSP leader’s killing.

The names of local leaders of all the mainstream political parties had surfaced in the Armstrong murder case. The police have also traced the involvement of a few lawyers in the murder case.

Another notorious criminal, Sambo Senthil, and the gang led by Ponnai Balu, brother of slain gangster Arcot Suresh, conspired with Nagendran to kill Armstrong.

You may recall that Ashwathaman, Nagendran’s son and a state functionary and practising lawyer with the Youth Congress, was arrested by the police in connection with Armstrong’s murder.

According to police sources, Sambo Senthil is also said to have conspired with Nagendran and Ponnai Balu in Armstrong’s murder.

Police sources told IANS that Senthil had clashed with Armstrong a few years ago over a property dispute and was angry with the BSP leader.