Armstrong murder case: TN Police to file charge sheet soon

Chennai:  The Tamil Nadu Special Police team probing the murder of the state president of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), K. Armstrong, will soon file the charge sheet.

Sources in the police told IANS that the charge sheet would be filed in a few days. The BSP leader was murdered in broad daylight on July 5 when he was chatting with his brother and friends at Perambur in North Chennai.

The murder of Armstrong, a prominent Dalit leader of the state involved in providing education to students and uplifting them in professional careers, created shock waves in the state.

BSP leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati attended the funeral of Armstrong. However, his adversaries said he was involved in several big-money land deals and operated his own gang.

Immediately after the murder of Armstrong, police swung into action. They arrested 11 people, including Ponnai Balu, the brother of history-sheeter, Arcot V.Suresh, who was killed earlier and there were reports of Armstrong’s involvement in the murder.

The police team shot dead one of the arrested, Thiruvengadam when he was brought to the Madhavaram Lake premises to secure the weapons used to assassinate Armstrong.

Police said that they were forced to fire at the notorious criminal after he attacked them. However, there were contradictory reports that the killing was stage-managed and police had an encounter killing to eliminate Thiruvengadam.

Sources in Tamil Nadu Police told IANS that three gangs were behind the murder of Armstrong and a notorious history-sheeter Nagendran, who is lodged in Vellore Central prison, coordinated the teams involved in the murder of the BSP leader.

The names of local leaders of all the mainstream political parties had surfaced in the murder case of Armstrong. Police have also zeroed in on the involvement of a few lawyers in the murder case.

Another notorious criminal Sambo Senthil and the gang led by Ponnai Balu brother of slain gangster, Arcot Suresh joined hands with Nagendran to murder Armstrong.

It may be recalled that Nagendran’s son and Youth Congress state office-bearer and practising lawyer, Ashwathaman was arrested by the police in the murder of Armstrong.

Sambo Senthil, according to sources in the police, had also networked with Nagendran and Ponnai Balu in the assassination of Armstrong.

Police sources told IANS that Senthil had locked horns with Armstrong a few years ago regarding a property dispute and was nursing a grouse against the BSP leader.