One of the accused in the murder case of Devendrakula Vellalar Kootamaippu founder-president C Pasupathi Pandian was murdered at Alagar Koil in Madurai on Tuesday.
The attack took place when M Muthupandi, an accused Pasupathi Pandian murder, visited the temple town along with three others. A five-member-gang took part in the murderous attack, which left two others heavily injured during the early morning hours. The relatives claimed that the police failed to give protection for Muthupandi even after an order given by the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench).
After he was named as one of the 18 accused in Pasupathi Pandian’s murder case, Muthupandi survived two attacks including an incident in which country bombs were hurled at him near Dindigul Press Club in March 2013.
The 38-year-old Muthupandi was a native of Karattazhaganpatti in Dindigul district and he was a member of John Pandian’s Tamil Nadu Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam before becoming Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) district president. He left that party too and successfully contested in the local body elections as an independent candidate for Dindigul Panchayat Union.
Appanthirupathi police registered a case. Preliminary investigations pointed towards the involvement of an insider behind the attack. “We suspect a close relative of Muthupandi to be involved in this murder,” a police official said.
An unidentified gang murdered Pasupathi Pandian at his residence at Nandhavanapatti, on the outskirts of Dindigul on January 11, 2012.