BSP leader Armstrong murder: Accused Thiruvengadam killed in Chennai police encounter
The Tamil Nadu Police on Sunday said one of the accused in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader K. Armstrong was killed in an encounter near Madhavaram in Chennai. The deceased was identified as K. Thiruvengadam, a 33-year-old history sheeter from Kundrathur, who was among the 11 persons arrested in connection with the case.
According to the police, Thiruvengadam was killed when a team from the Kodungaiyur police station took him to Manali early on Sunday morning to recover weapons used in the murder. The team was returning when Thiruvengadam, near a goat market at Red Hills, asked to answer nature's call. He then escaped and hid in a tin-roofed shed on Vegetarian Street in Madhavaram.
Police said additional forces traced his location and approached the shed, but he fired at them with a country revolver. In retaliatory fire, Thiruvengadam sustained injuries to his abdomen and chest. He was rushed to a private hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
A senior city police official said Thiruvengadam was one of the main culprits in planning the murder of Armstrong, along with the prime accused Ponnai Bala, brother of slain history sheeter Arcot Suresh. The official said Thiruvengadam had five criminal cases pending against him, including three murder cases. One of these was the 2015 murder of Thennarasu, a close confidante of Armstrong, near Thamaraipakkam Koot Road.
Armstrong, the Tamil Nadu president of the BSP, was hacked to death by a gang near his residence in Perambur on July 5. His murder sparked widespread condemnation and political tension in the state. The Sembium police, investigating the case, had obtained five-day custody of the 11 accused from Poonamallee prison.
The police said that the shed where Thiruvengadam was hiding was the same location where the plan to murder Armstrong was hatched. After the encounter, the Puzhal police registered a case and sent the body to Government Stanley Hospital for post-mortem examination.
The encounter has once again brought attention to police actions against history sheeters in Tamil Nadu. While the police maintain that they acted in self-defence after the accused opened fire, human rights organisations have often called for independent inquiries into such encounters to ensure accountability and transparency.
The investigation into Armstrong's murder is ongoing. Thiruvengadam's death reduces the number of suspects in custody to ten, but the police have not yet indicated whether this will affect the proceedings.
