CHENNAI: Days after the TVK-led government withdrew its appeal in the Supreme Court against a CBI probe into the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president K Armstrong, the Special Crime Branch unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation has commenced investigation in the case.
Sources in the CBI told TNIE that the agency has received the case documents pertaining to Armstrong’s murder and is currently examining them. “After carefully examining the entire documents and the sections invoked in it, we will adopt the FIR registered by the Tamil Nadu police and re-register it. We may add additional sections, if needed,” an official who is part of the investigation told TNIE.
The official said the agency has been examining the entire proceeds of crime, and that only after re-registering the FIR would the CBI begin summoning people and possibly conduct on-spot inquiries in connection with the case.
Following Armstrong’s murder on July 5, 2024, the Sembium police initially registered a case under various sections, including murder, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. After investigation, the police invoked additional sections under the BNS as well as under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, and the Arms Act, 1959, against 30 suspects.
The official noted that most of the suspects are still lodged in prison, and that the agency would seek legal advice on taking them into custody for further questioning. “Usually the time period for taking an accused under police custody is limited from the time of their arrest. Since we are re-registering an FIR, we would ask for custodial interrogation, if need be,” the official said.
After Armstrong was hacked to death by a gang near his under-construction residence at Perambur in the city, the Greater Chennai Police’s special investigation team (SIT) had arrested several suspects and filed a charge sheet running over 7,800 pages against 30 persons.
However, acting on a plea by Armstrong’s brother, the Madras High Court in September 2025 ordered a CBI probe into the case, citing “procedural failures” and lapses in police investigation. The state government, then led by the DMK, had challenged the order before the Supreme Court, which stayed the transfer of the probe pending completion of hearing.
After the TVK came to power in May, the state government led by it on July 15 withdrew its appeal before the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the CBI to take over the investigation.
Case docus received
Sources in the CBI said that the agency has received the case documents pertaining to Armstrong’s murder and is currently examining them
