An uneasy calm prevailed in the district on Saturday as the funeral procession of BJP State General Secretary ‘Auditor’ Ramesh, who was murdered by an unidentified gang here on Friday, was conducted with heavy police protection here on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Ramesh’s body was handed over to his family members after the post-mortem in the GH here at 11.48 am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, police have picked up Jayaraman (74), watchman of Ramesh’s office, who is said to have witnessed the murder for questioning. However, police said that as Jayaraman was in a state of shock after seeing the killing and could not provide any leads.
Late on Friday night, after the news of the murder of Ramesh at his office in Maraveneri on Friday night broke out, all bus and auto services were suspended in the town.
However, buses were operated with police escort on some routes in the night. Normal transport service resumed in the morning.
As part of its effort to nab the murdrers, police started conducting vehicle checks at all vantage points in the district from Friday night. Each and every vehicle was thoroughly checked by cops in key locations in the district.
Cops, who did not want to take any chance, tightened security in the vicinity of mosques and in Muslim pokcets.
The bandh called by the district unit of Tirupur to condemn the murder of BJP State general secretary Auditor Ramesh in Salem on Friday, evoked a good response in the district as most shops remained shut on Saturday.
Meanwhile, VHP State president, Kuppuram, said that the murder of Ramesh was not political but a religious one. He said that those working for the cause of Hinduism were being targeted.
Kuppuram said that Ramesh was a wholesome Hindu leader. RSS State secretary Kumarasamy, BJP State president Pon Radhakrishnan, National Council member L Ganesan and many BJP district and state-level functionaries from other districts paid homage.