Chennai Top Cop Shifted Amid Political Firestorm Over Tamil Nadu BSP Chief’s Murder

Chennai: Three day after gruesome murder of state BSP president K Armstrong, the MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government on Monday transferred Chennai police commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore and posted him as the director of the Tamil Nadu police training college.

Additional director-general of police (law and order) A Arun has replaced him as the city police commissioner.

Eleven men have so far been arrested in connection with the murder of Armstrong, who was hacked to death by six men on bikes near his house on Friday. Stating that those involved in his murder were arrested in an overnight operation, the CM added that police have been instructed to conduct the investigation expeditiously and ensure that the culprits are punished according to law.

Police suspect it to be case of revenge murder, linked to the killing of a gangster, Arcot Suresh, last year. “Arcot Suresh’s family have been harbouring suspicion that it was Armstrong who engineered the murder,” a senior police officer told NDTV.

The incident, however, has triggered a political firestorm in the state and sharp reactions from BSP. While paying home to the murder colleague, BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati demanded a CBI probe into the killing to ensure justice for the family.

Meanwhile, Armstrong was laid to rest on Monday in neighbouring Tiruvallur district after the Madras High Court allowed for his burial at a private property in Pothur village while hearing a petition filed by wife, seeking permission to bury his body in the party office at Chennai.