Tamil Nadu BSP Chief Murder: BSP chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati were to arrive in Chennai on Sunday to pay her last respects to K Armstrong, who was the president of the party's Tamil Nadu unit and was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Chennai's Perambur on Friday evening.
Visuals published by news agency ANI showed Mayawati leaving for Chennai on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, her nephew and BSP National Coordinator Akash Anand was also seen leaving from his Delhi residence to pay his last respects to Armstrong in Chennai. Armstrong's killing has opened a new front for the BJP and the INDIA Opposition bloc to exchange blows.
Attacking the Chief Minister MK Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu over Armstrong's murder, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said on Saturday that "no Dalit is feeling safe" in the state. "The law and order situation in Tamil Nadu has completely gone out of hand. MK Stalin is directly responsible, as he is the Home Minister as well. When K Armstrong, a Dalit BSP leader of Tamil Nadu is killed at 7 pm with heavy weapons in Chennai, who is safe? No Dalit feels safe in Tamil Nadu," Poonawalla told ANI.
Union Minister and BJP leader L Murugan also condemned the killing and said the DMK government has failed to maintain law and order in the state. "A National Party's state president was unable to survive because of the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu. The DMK government has totally failed to maintain law and order in the state," Muruganm stated.
Eights suspects have been apprehended by the police so far in connection with Armstrong's murder. Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore has ruled out any political angle in the case. He said that Armstrong had seven cases against him. "In all the cases, he has been acquitted and the cases are closed," the official said.
(With inputs from ANI)