CHENNAI: Ruling out politics or caste as the reason for the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP president K Armstrong, Greater Chennai Police commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore on Saturday said there was also no intelligence input regarding any threat to his life. Rathore said police are probing the murder as a retaliatory killing, but declined to divulge further details, citing ongoing investigation. He said the chance of the murder being a political killing was “very less”, though they are investigating the rivalries Armstrong had in his political career. Eleven suspects have been detained so far in the murder case.
Meanwhile, BSP cadres continued to stage protests and road roko outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) where his body has been kept since Friday, demanding a CBI probe into the murder and permission to bury his body on the BSP party office premises.
Chennai Corporation sources said a request has been received from Armstrong’s family for permission to bury his body in the party office, but a final decision can only be taken by the state government.
Earlier in the day, the commissioner told reporters that since Armstrong was the state president of a national party, the intelligence section kept a watch on him but there was no information about any threat to him. “Armstrong was no longer a history-sheeter and had been acquitted in all the seven cases pending against him,” he said.
Eight suspects — Ponnai Balu (39), S Thirumalai (45), K Manivannan (25), K Thiruvenkadam (33), D Ramu (38), J Santhosh (22), G Arul (33), and D Selvaraj (48) — were arrested by police on Friday.
Cops secure footage of gang fleeing
Balu is the brother of slain history-sheeter ‘Arcot’ Suresh who was murdered in August 2023 at Foreshore Estate. Rathore did not give any specific answer when asked if the police were tracking Balu and others after Suresh’s murder to prevent the possibility of a revenge killing. He also denied rumours that the accused had surrendered before the police and credited the intelligence section for the arrest. Rathore said five of the arrested accused are history-sheeters. The police had secured CCTV footage of the gang escaping the crime scene, which led to the arrest. Denying allegations that murder incidents are increasing in Chennai, Rathore claimed the number has come down to 58 from 63, comparing the data from the first six months of 2024 and 2023.
