BSP leader Armstrong murder, Mayawati says real culprits not arrested

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati paying her last respects to the mortal remains of party leader K. Armstrong, who was hacked to death by a six-member gang, in Chennai. (Photo | P Ravikumar, EPS)

Mayawati demanded a CBI probe into the death of her party's slain Tamil Nadu president K Armstrong.

Expressing anguish over Armstrong's death, Mayawati also said the way he was killed, by a group of assailants late in the evening, showed "there was nothing called law and order" in Tamil Nadu.

The Madras High Court permitted the burial of slain leader K Armstrong’s mortal remains on a private land in Thiruvallur district owned by one of his relatives.

A petition was filed in the court on Saturday seeking a direction to the authorities of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to grant permission for burying the body in the premises of the party office at Perambur in Chennai.

The mortal remains of K Armstrong was placed at the Corporation School Ground in Chennai for public tribute.

A heavy police force was deployed outside the Corporation School Ground to ensure peace and public safety.

Dismissing allegations of an intelligence failure, Greater Chennai Police commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore on Saturday said there was no information available regarding any threats to K Armstrong.

Chennai police held eight suspects in connection with the case four hours after the murder. The accused were identified as Ponnai Balu, S Thirumalai, K Manivannan, K Thiruvenkadam, D Ramu, J Santhosh, G Arul, and D Selvaraj.

Armstrong was a practicing Buddhist who helped construct many Viharas in the recent past. Though he was an accused in at least seven cases, he had been acquitted in all at the time of his death, and it was confirmed by Greater Chennai police officially.