MADURAI: Days after the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Tamil Nadu chief K Armstrong in Chennai, Naam Tamilar Katchi party’s Madurai North District deputy secretary Balasubramanian was hacked to death on Tuesday morning, police said.
Balasubramanian was hacked to death while walking in Madurai’s BB Kulam area, Madurai City Police Commissioner Loganathan said. “It seems that this murder was done because of his family problem. An investigation is under way. We will file an FIR shortly”, Loganathan said.
According to police sources, the victim Balakrishnan was a history-sheeter with three pending cases against him. Preliminary investigation revealed that the murder may have been due to personal enmity, they added.
Earlier, BSP Tamil Nadu chief Armstrong was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. The Chennai police suspect the involvement of associates of gangster Arcot Suresh, who was murdered in August last year, in the murder.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, Asra Garg had said, “After sustained interrogation, due analysis and diligence regarding the facts and circumstances of each suspect, we have arrested eight people. We have seized seven blood-stained weapons, one Zomato T-shirt, a Zomato bag, and three bikes that were used in the commission of the offence”.
Highlighting the suspected motive behind the killing, Additional CP Garg mentioned that the associates of gangster Arcot Suresh, who was assassinated last year, believed it was “conspired” by Armstrong.
“In continuation of this, the special teams formed by the Chennai police have secured three more suspects. The preliminary investigation so far indicates that the motive prima facie appears to be based on different types of analysis. In August 2023, Arcot Suresh was murdered by a gang; his family and associates believe it was done under the direction or in conspiracy with Armstrong, who was murdered on Friday”, he stated.
The Chennai police formed special teams to comprehensively probe the case. Meanwhile, one of the accused in the case, Thiruvengadam, was killed in a shootout near Madhavaram in Chennai last Saturday night. The exchange of fire took place after he tried to flee from police custody while he was taken out to recover a weapon used in the murder of Armstrong, the police said.
According to the police, Thiruvengadam is said to have followed Armstrong for several days, ahead of the murder, keeping a constant tab on the BSP leader’s activities. Thiruvengadam was taken to a place near Madhavaram to take the weapons that were used to kill Armstrong, police said. (ANI)