One of the 11 accused in the murder of BSP Tamil Nadu chief K Armstrong was shot dead in Chennai on Sunday. The key accused was in police custody. The accused – K Thiruvengadam – was killed when he attempted to assault police personnel and flee from custody.
When Thiruvengadam was taken by sleuths to a location in north Chennai as part of an investigation to unearth weapons concealed in a spot, he managed to escape and hid in a shed inside a vegetable market and when the police team reached there, he fired at the police team with his country-made gun and was killed by the police in retaliatory action.
Though he was taken to a hospital, doctors declared him dead. Thiruvengadam, in his thirties, is a history sheeter. A couple of days ago, a court had granted police five-day custody of the accused persons.
However, AIADMK general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami condemned the encounter death and said the police version of the events looked suspicious. He questioned whether the police failed to take adequate security measures before taking a murder accused to his possible hideout.
Meanwhile, the police released CCTV visuals of Armstrong’s murder, aiming to dispel rumours that those arrested were not the actual suspects.
The video shows the accused men approaching Armstrong dressed as food delivery personnel. The video shows the accused, all clad in red t-shirts, arriving at a spot, a construction site, separately before jointly attacking Armstrong. The BSP leader who was overseeing the construction work was fatally stabbed, after which the accused men fled in the two-wheelers.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday called on Porkodi, wife of Armstrong and assured her that the perpetrators of the crime would be brought to justice. Stalin conveyed his condolences and sympathies to Porkodi and the other family members of Armstrong and assured them that all those involved in the ghastly murder would be punished according to the law.
