Yet another hard blow to MK Stalin (who holds the Home portfolio) led Dravidian Model government, and a clear sign of lack of confidence in the Tamil Nadu police, the Madras High Court has ordered transfer of the probe to the CBI in the daylight murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president K Armstrong in July 2024.
Justice P Velmurugan of the Madras High Court allowed a petition filed by Armstrong’s brother K Immanuvel, who complained about the investigation carried out by the Greater Chennai Police. The court transferred the probe from Greater Chennai City Police to the CBI as it had allegedly not investigated the case properly.
During the last hearing in July, the court had questioned the police for not even complying with the basic requirement of conducting an identification parade in the murder case, despite there being many eyewitnesses to the crime.
Had the DMK government been serious, the accused would have been arrested
– BSP Chief Mayawati on the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP President K Armstrong in Chennai pic.twitter.com/Tve1APSoT5
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) July 8, 2024
The judge observed, “Most of the criminal cases ended up in acquittal only because of flaws in the probe, and the present case is a classic example.” He added that the availability of CCTV footage of the crime could not be cited as the reason to dispense with the identification parade. To this, AAG P Kumerasan said the media had given wide publicity of the crime, including pictures of the accused, and hence an identification parade might not have been of great use. The judge retorted, “Was the media the eyewitness to the crime? Media may publish any picture for TRP.”
It is to be remembered that Armstrong, who was also an advocate, was hacked to death by an eight-member gang in the presence of his brother K Veeramani, driver Abdul Kani, real estate broker Balaji, and construction workers Mohan Raj and Suresh at Perambur on 5 July 2024. Veeramani suffered injuries when he tried to protect his brother, and it was based on his complaint that the police registered an FIR. He told the police he could easily identify the assailants, but the police dragged their feet in conducting the identification parade (IP).
The police completed the probe and filed a charge sheet against 30 individuals. But the petitioner, citing an SC verdict, argued that the court could still transfer the probe to the CBI if it was not satisfied with the one done by the local police. TN police claimed it had formed an SIT with one Deputy Commissioner, two Assistant Commissioners, 16 Inspectors, 19 SIs and 44 constables. They said the murder was a case of gang rivalry. It was stated that prime accused Nagendran, already lodged in Vellore jail in another murder case, was involved. The second accused, Shambhava Senthil aka Senthilkumaran, and the 18th accused, Mottai Krishnan alias Krishnakumar, were declared absconding. It is suspected the second accused has fled to France or the UK, and steps are being taken to extradite him by issuing a Red Corner Notice, while the seventh accused, Thiruvengadam, died in an encounter.
The court found many discrepancies between the FIR and the charge sheet filed by the police. It noted, “Another significant concern is that key conspirators, namely A2 (Shambhava Senthil) and A18 (Mottai Krishnan), remain absconding even after the filing of the charge sheet. The continued non-arrest of the prime accused naturally raises doubts about the completeness and effectiveness of the investigation. The possibility of suppression or destruction of evidence cannot be disregarded.”
The judge further said, “The investigation seems to have focused mainly on establishing the physical commission of the crime without properly examining the background, motive and possible broader conspiracy. This selective approach gives the impression that certain lines of inquiry may have been deliberately overlooked.”
He concluded, “Therefore, in the interest of justice, the charge sheet filed by Sembium police is quashed. The probe is accordingly transferred to the CBI for a free, fair and impartial inquiry, independent of media, political influence or local pressure, to be completed within six months, subject to extensions only on sufficient cause shown.”
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